The Blue Blur of Termina
by Komodin
Summary: Two months after Dark Gaia's defeat, Sonic the Hedgehog, bored from the monotony of the peacetime, went off on his own in search of fun and adventure. After a startling encounter with a trio of thieves led by the feisty Tatl Beryllia, what once started out as a leisurely journey for merriment soon became a race against time to save the land of Termina: a world destined to fade...
1. The Beginning of A New Adventure

_Disclaimer:__ I do not own anything from the Sonic the Hedgehog or the Legend of Zelda series; the rights of all things related to the two aforementioned series are copyrighted by Sega and Nintendo, respectively._

* * *

_**The Blue Blur of Termina**_

_**A Sonic the Hedgehog/Legend of Zelda crossover **__**adaptation**__**, by Komodin**_

* * *

_Man, what a weird day this was…_

Two months has passed since the Dark Gaia incident has transpired. After their latest victory against the nefarious Dr. Robotnik, things have been unusually quiet for Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends. With no word on the whereabouts of the infamous doctor after his last sightings deep within the Earth's crust, they've went their separate ways, if only for a little while. Child prodigy Miles Prower focused on his studies and tended to his machines in this peacetime. Other than one date with Sonic in early August, Amy Rose kept to herself, focusing on her boxercising regiment.

Sonic, on the other hand, opted for something more… adventurous. In the spirit of the situation, he decided to take an exploration tour through every continent in the world. He occasionally stopped by his old haunts, South and Christmas Islands, for a few days, to get together with his old chums. For the most part, he kept to himself, limiting his contact with his friends to a minimum.

One late afternoon in late September, he journeyed deep within the jungles of Adabat, in search for something - anything - to do. His six large quills swept lightly against each other as he walked, making quiet hollow sounds that gave a little echo. He carried a large, bright red bag on his back, filled with various souvenirs and knick-knacks from his travels. It swung loosely from side to side, brushing against the two smaller quills on his back. The ground felt hard and solid under his red sneakers. It left a few specks of dirt on the gold buckle and white socks.

A thick, humid fog lingered all around the dark and barren walkway, obscuring what little light that could beam down from the dense jungle canopy above. Faint calls and whistles rang out all around him; some were barely audible. Small puddles of mud and groundwater dotted the pathway, giving it a squishy feel to it.

As he trekked about, he spotted a group of large stone totem poles erected near the dirt path. He stopped in front of one and observed it. Each part of the four-tier structure bore different faces carved into its stony surfaces. The topmost part bore an exaggeratedly jovial smile. As Sonic looked the totem pole down, he noticed the expressions on them shifted from exaggerated joy to anger, to sadness, and finally to simple placidity.

"Weird…" he hummed. "Like those things from Green Hill…"

Shrugging his shoulders, he walked past the totem and walked further down the path. Similar stone arrow-shaped structures were nearby, lining the path in a way. Each structure stood in a circle of burnt ground, spewing small jets of fire around in a circular fashion. He could hear the faint sounds of a roaring waterfall off in the distance. In the near-silence of his surroundings, the waterfall sounded even louder than it normally would. A minute later, he finally arrived at a small clearing at the end of the path; Sonic came to a halt to survey the scenery.

The air in the clearing felt vaguely moist. Only a few bushes and rocks dotted the ground, surrounded by the jungle. The sky overhead was dark and cloudy, with blue flashes of lightning cutting through. Large flocks of birds, each as vibrant as the sky itself, flew overhead while making loud calls in the vacant air. As he gazed upon the overcast sky, a sickening feeling welled up in him. Not since the whole issue with Metal Sonic has the sky appeared so… ominous. Before he could think further on the sign it was apparently presenting, a loud rumble suddenly rang out around him. Sonic snapped back into attention and looked around.

_Whoa, what the heck was that?_ Droplets began to rain down upon the clearing. At first, he thought the rumble was just a thunderclap, but then he heard the sound again, this time coming from his stomach.

"Oh." Putting his hands to his stomach, he sighed and gave a little chuckle. He hadn't eaten a nibble all day; he was much too focused on his travels to grab a bite to eat.

_Perhaps, _he thought, _I should take a break before I head back to the village._

Looking around, he spotted a large boulder resting right in front of a tree out of the rain. Walking over to the massive stone, he leaped up and hopped on top of it. Reaching his hand over his shoulders, he unstrapped the bag from his back and set it down beside him. He reached in and took out two objects: one wrapped in aluminum foil; the other a bowl of red, sparkly gelatin sealed shut with a plastic lid. He set the gelatin beside him and started to tear apart the foil. As he opened the foil-wrapped object, a spicy scent filled his nostrils. It was a scent he was most familiar with, yet still made his mouth water every time. The aroma enveloped him as he removed the foil cover and tossed it aside.

Resting in the palm of his hands were a couple of jumbo franks, each wrapped in a crisp bun and slathered with a thick layer of chili. Little puffs of steam rose from the warm franks, lightly touching his muzzle. As the spicy aroma emitted by the twin chili dogs lingered in his nose, his mouth started to water. All he could think about was the chili dogs, biting down upon the chili dogs, savoring their every bit of flavor he could taste.

"Ah…" he muttered, letting out a sigh. "A chili dog: truly, a hedgehog's best friend. Bon appétit, Sonic…"

* * *

_Come on… where is she?_

He laid in wait from behind a bush on the wet grassy ground of the jungle, arms wrapped around his legs. He rested his face on his legs and sighed. His four huge, translucent wings drifted along with the strong stormy breeze. Various thoughts raced through the young fairy's mind: Where was his sister? Why isn't she here with him? Why was he even here in the first place? He wanted nothing to do with this; he just wanted to go back home.

Before he could contemplate any more on his current predicament, he heard a loud, hollow sound coming from behind. He glanced back and saw something blue from behind the bush. Piqued, he turned around and pushed some of the leaves back, careful not to make his presence known. The leaves from the bush brushed against his bare chest, tickling him ever so slightly. As he looked closer at the blue figure, he gave a little gasp.

_It's him…_

He saw a blue-colored hedgehog, clad in nothing but gloves and red shoes, sitting on top of a large boulder. A ray of sunshine rained down upon the figure, giving him an almost divine appearance. Two relatively long objects were in his hands, each wrapped in something that vaguely looked like silver.

As he looked him up and down, he noticed his bag sitting on the rock beside him. He closed his eyes a bit, noticing a whole cavalcade of materials barely sticking out from within. Rings, medals, keys and many others he could barely make out. From just a cursory look, he could see that the blue figure sure liked to collect stuff.

Tael watched as the blue hedgehog slowly took off the silvery material from the objects, revealing what looks like a reddish-brown stick with a whitish-brown underside. He noticed a small cloud coming from the two silvery sticks; from what he saw on the hedgehog's face whatever the smoke was, he clearly must like it. Looking at the hedgehog's gloved hand, Tael spotted a silver bracelet wrapped around the cuff, with a green jewel embedded on it. The gemstone shimmered in what little light that could pass through the heavily overcast sky. Before the fairy child could question his peculiar bracelet any more, a quiet ringing sound rang out from behind him, followed by:

"Tael, is the coast clear?"

The voice was a bit high-pitched, yet airy in tone. He looked back and saw a pair of glowing, bright-red eyes leer out from within the bush. The eyes, lined by a long braid of creamy-white hair, looked around before locking on to Tael.

"Tael," the voice muttered from the bush, squinted at the fairy boy. "You spot anyone yet, bro?"

Tael nodded, giving a little sigh to himself. "Yeah, Sis, you won't believe this, but I think I see that blue hedgehog guy from a couple months ago."

"The blue hedgehog?" the voice gasped. "Okay, I've _gotta_ see him for myself!" With a blink, the eyes vanished into the bush, leaving in a quiet ring.

A few seconds of rustling later, a fairy girl slowly crawled out from the bush. Standing straight, she ran her gloved fingers through her hair, brushing away the dirt and leaves caught within it. Tael saw beads of water roll down her skin, dripping down to the soft ground below. Brushing off her stockings, the fairy girl walked up to Tael, smiling brightly.

"Had a nice wash, Tatl?" he asked, making a little smile.

"A long needed one..." The girl, Tatl, looked down at him and nodded, ringing the bells on her earrings and braid. "Is that blue hedgehog still there?"

"Yeah." Tael nodded.

Walking past Tael, she crouched down on her knees in front of the bush. Brushing aside the leaves, she poked her head out and spotted the blue hedgehog. Tilting her head up and down, she sighed.

"Oh my gosh," she said, her wings sharply raised. "It's actually him..."

Poking her head back in, Tatl raised her hand to her face, brushing lightly against her cheek. She hummed lightly, staring up towards the sky. "I guess this will be _easier_ than I thought..."

"Uh, Tatl?" Tael leaned over to his sister. She bore a vacant, spacey smile on her face, as if she was off in her own world. Her eyes started to drift off in two different directions as a spot of drool rolled down from her mouth.

He waved his hand in front of her face. "Are you okay?" Tael asked, frowning. "Hello? Tatl? Are you there?"

Tatl abruptly snapped back to attention, looking around in confusion. "Huh? What happened?"

"You were zoning out again, Sis," Tael said, scratching the back of his head. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm more than alright..." She smirked and gave a little cackle. "I've just thought up an _excellent_ plan to get that hedgehog's stuff!"

"Um, are you sure we should do this? I mean, he's busy minding his own business..."

"Why _not_?" Tatl asked. "He doesn't look so strong with those noodle limbs of his. Okay, _sure_, he trashed that giant metal skulltula a couple months ago, but I'm _certain_ we could both take him if he tries to fight back. Besides, he should've known better than to wander around in a dark jungle alone, anyway."

Tael sighed. "Well, I guess you're right about that."

"Exactly, little bro._ Anyway,_ here's the plan." Tatl reached into her stocking and pulled out her wand. "You'll stay here and play that whole "fake injury" routine, like last time. I'll go further up the path and hide in the treetops. When the hedgehog's guard is down, I'll sneak up and take him out with my wand. Once he's knocked out, we'll swoop in, take the bag, and get out of there before that hedgehog wakes up! Got it?"

"Uh, you're sure this will work?" He looked back over at the blue hedgehog's general direction and shuddered. "I mean, he looks pretty dangerous and stuff. He trashed that metal skulltula like it was nothing! Besides, what if he doesn't fall for that trick? What if he just ignores me and move on? What if he tries to rob and takes advantage of _me_? What if-"

"Oh, _relax_." Putting away her wand, she rested her hand on his shoulder. Running her fingers through his purple hair, she flashed a smile. "You panic _way_ too much, bro. You seriously need to learn to relax, okay? Besides, it worked before, remember?"

"Okay, I guess… as long as we don't kill him, right?"

"Of _course_, we won't kill him!" she yelled. "You honestly think I'd stoop to outright _killing _someone?"

"What? O-of course n-"

"Good, now, be quiet." She placed her hand over his mouth. "He's about done with that food... remember the plan?"

Tael nodded. "Yeah, Tatl."

"Good." She stood up and brushed off her knees. "Stay here, do what I told ya and_ please_ don't screw this up!" With a powerful flap of her wings, she took off into the forest treetops.

"Alright, sis…" Tael breathed a sigh of exasperation. "I just wanna go home…"

* * *

Finishing his lunch, Sonic wrapped up the leftovers and placed it back in his bag. Strapping it back onto his back, careful not to puncture it with his quills, he sighed.

_Alrighty, then, _he thought, shaking his quills, _time to head back to the village for the night__. Maybe I should visit the UNited Federation again tomorrow..._

Just as he turned around to head out of the cearing, he suddenly heard a sharp, cracking sound off in the distance behind him.

He snapped back into attention and looked around, trying to locate the source of the crack. His ears twitched and pointed toward the slight shuffling and scraping near the bushes. Teeth clenched, he spotted a faint reddish-purple light emanate from the bushes at the other side of the clearing. The light hovered slightly off the ground, fading in and out of view. Sonic could only look on as the light flickered on and off, not unlike that of a lightning bug.

_Ugh__,_ _n__ow what?_

He slowly approached the plant, careful not to make too much noise. His ears twitched around, eyes locked ahead. As he went closer and closer, he could hear faint whimpers sound out from within its leafy foliage. He brushed some of the leaves aside, just enough for him to poke his face through.

A little boy sat on the forest floor just a couple feet away, his knees obscuring his face from his view. The boy, clad in a purple shirt and reddish-brown shorts, was covered head to toe in splotches of dirt and foliage. Unlike any child he saw, however, the boy had four huge, insectile wings sticking out his back, swaying lightly in the breeze. Despite his disheveled appearance, a reddish light still managed to emanate from the child's reddish-purple hair.

"Hey, kid!" Sonic shouted, poking his head in through the hole. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" The child wiped his face and looked up at Sonic. His eyes, purple as his hair, were a little bloodshot, as if the kid was crying for quite a while. "W-who are you, m-mister?"

With one quick spin attack, Sonic sliced his way through the hole, splitting the bush in half. "What the heck are you doing here all alone, kid?" he asked, tossing the bush pieces aside. "Don't you know how _dangerous _this jungle is? How did you wind up here in the first place?"

The child looked around, a miserable look on his face, before shrugging his shoulders weakly. "I-I don't know, mister. One minute, I was playing in the beach, next minute... I'm here in this jungle, all alone!"

Sonic narrowed his eyes. There was just something about this kid's story that just didn't seem right at all. "Hold up," he said quizzically, folding his arms, "don't you have any parents, kid? I don't see why they wouldn't be looking for you."

The child looked down to the ground and shook his head. "I don't have any parents, sir. They both died when I was only a baby."

Sonic's heart sank as the words echoed in his mind. With a frown firmly locked on his face, he calmly asked, "Wait, so you're an orphan? You don't have _anyone _taking care of you?"

The kid shook his head. "I only have an older sister, sir."

Sonic raised his eyebrows. "Okay, how old is your _sister_, then?"

"She's fifteen years old. I'm only eleven..."

Sonic freed his arms and put his hands to his chin. It appears the child's sister - if he really had one - is missing as well. Frowning, he asked, "Okay, where have you last seen her? The beach?"

The child raised his hand and pointed at Sonic. "I think it was in the clearing, sir; further up the path."

"Alright, then, kid, I'll help you find your sister. It's the least I can do." Sonic gave a thumbs-up. "The name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog! What's yours, kid?"

"M-my name is Tael, mister," the boy murmured as he rose up from the ground.

"Hey, now!" Sonic shouted, holding his hands in front of him. "There's no need for the fancy talk with me, kid. Just call me Sonic, alright?"

"Sorry, mist-" Tael paused, and then corrected, "I mean, Sonic, just Sonic. Got it." His frown curled into a little smile.

"No problem, Tael," Sonic cheered, flashing a toothy smile. The heaviness in his heart started to ease off as he saw Tael's smile. "Now then, let's go find your sister! We should go back to the village to see if anyone knows you, alright?"

"Yeah," Tael said, nodding, "right, Sonic."

Just then, a loud, tinny voice rang out from behind them.

_"Two targets sighted: __o__ne of unknown origin."_

"What the…"

Sonic looked back and saw a large, metallic figure in the clearing. It had the general shape of a blue metallic man, as big as the boulder he sat on. Its torso resembled a steel-blue spinning top with huge silver buttons dotting its body. Its legs were small and stubby compared to the rest of its body; its arms, on the other hand had large forearms. On top of its spinning top-like body was a structure that barely counted as a head: its only feature were a pair of red "eyes" that emanated a soft pink light.

Sonic gritted his teeth. "_Another_ one of these Egg Fighter 'bots? He still _has_ these clunkers?" He felt a slight tug on his bag; he looked back and saw Tael, with a worried look on his face once more.

"What's the matter, Sonic?" Tael said, frowning. "What's that weird metal man?"

"Nothing, it's just one of those Egg Fighter things ol' Robuttnik has lying around here. You know who _he_ is, right?"

Tael only shook his head. "Never heard of him, si-I mean, Sonic."

Sonic hummed. "Well, I'll give you the lowdown on ol' Eggbelly later. Now, listen, kid." He knelt down in front of Tael, taking off his bag. "I want you to take this and stay _right here_ while I go take care of that badnik, okay? Last thing I want is for you to get hurt in the crossfire."

"O-okay, Sonic." He nodded and quickly hid behind a nearby bush.

Smirking, he turned his attention back to the patrolling Egg Fighter. Sucking in a breath of air, he crouched down to the ground, leaning on one knee. One hand to the ground, he looked ahead, lock on the robot. He looked carefully at the robot's every movement, the way it trotted, the way it looked around for its target. Once he was sure of how to approach it, he crouched down into fetal position. Hands over his face, he closed his eyes and curled into a ball. In one quick motion downwards, he started to spin in place.

_Ready..._

As he spun faster and faster, he heard a loud buzzing sound from ahead of him.

_"Target sighted: Sonic the Hedgehog. Objective: Immediate Extermination."_

Now the robot knew of his presence.

_Set…_

Sticking out his ears as far as he could, he tilted from side to side, adjusting himself in the direction the buzz was coming from. A cloud of dust started to gather all around as he spun. A few seconds in, he could hear the buzz grow louder, masking the near-silent footsteps the source was making. His ears twitched; now, he was ready.

_Go!_

He launched forward as quick as a blur. He opened his eyes for a brief moment; first, he saw the Egg Fighters jump in panic. Next, all he saw were a few bundles of colored wires with a slit-shaped hole in front. An even louder, though brief, buzz sounded off as he went through the wires and gears. Next thing he knew, he was back on the forest ground, down on one knee and no worse for wear. Just as he started to stand up, a loud explosion sounded off from behind. The forest turned red and white as a fireball grew in size, wiping out everything in its path. Then, just as abrupt as it appeared, the fireball dissipated.

As he brushed off the dirt and soot on his body, a long metal rod crashed down next to his feet. Looking down, he reached and picked up the rod. A little hot to the touch, Sonic looked closely at it before smirking; it was the burnt remains of the Egg Fighter.

Brushing his gloves off, he scoffed, "Hm, ready for the scrap pile. Ah well." With a sigh, he tossed the rod over his shoulder.

"Th-that was _incredible_!"

Sonic looked back and saw Tael, mouth agape. "W-what was that thing you just did to the metal man? H-h-how did you move so _fast_?"

Sonic beamed, chuckling. "Oh, _that_? Eh, it was just the Supersonic Spin Attack, nothing special."

Tael dropped his shoulders. "B-but, what do you _mean_, 'nothing special'? You practically _teleported_, Sonic! You were like a _blur_!"

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'm just that fast!"

As he reached down to grab his bag, something peculiar appeared off the corner of his eye. Looking back, he saw a bright red light emanated from Tael's face. Sonic raised his eyebrow at seeing the odd spectacle. He's seen people blush before - for one reason or another - but he has never seen anyone do it so brightly.

"Hey, Tael, are you alright?" he called out.

Tael looked up, redness abruptly subsided. "Y-yes, Sonic. Why did you ask?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Why were your cheeks red, then?"

"I-I," Tael stammered, "think I'm just coming under the weather! Yeah, that's it! Just under the weather! It's nothing, really!"

"Uh huh…?" He shook his head, saying, "Anyway, let's go find your sister."

"Okay!" the winged boy said, nodding.

Just as Sonic made his way out of the clearing, a loud jingle abruptly sounded out. Sonic jumped back and balled his fists.

"Wh-What was that?" Tael yelled.

Just as Sonic turned his head around to discern what was going on, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his shoulder from behind.

"Aah-!" He fell down on his knees with a thud. He put his hand on his shoulder and felt it; blood soaked onto his glove, giving it a pinkish color. His arm twitched from the sharp pangs of pain surging through it.

"Tael? Tael – augh – where are you?"

He looked back as much as he could and saw a white-haired winged girl standing over him, glowing a strange yellow light. She bore a toothy, sinister smirk on her face. Her eyes, red as blood, seemed lit in flames in the glow of her aura. His vision started to dim as he tried to get a good look at the girl. Before he could fathom what was going on, he saw the girl raise her arms over her head. Looking up, he saw a gray, tube-shaped object in her grasp. Squinted, he gasped; it was the Egg Fighter piece.

_What the…?_

Before he could reach his unharmed arm out to defend himself, the girl brought the rod down upon his head. The last thing he heard before the object struck was a hollow, breaking sound.

* * *

"That was simply _pathetic_!" Tatl said mockingly as she placed the wand back in her stocking. "Killed a giant metal skulltula like it was nothing, yet he got downed by _one_ flesh wound? Ah well, let's see what he got..."

Tael could only gaze down upon Sonic. A small trail of blood ran down his shoulder onto the ground. A huge bump grew right on the middle of the downed hedgehog's forehead. As he looked on, a single tear ran down his cheek.

"Sorry, Sonic..." he whispered to himself, voice cracking with every word.

"Heh, you two did great!"

Tael, along with Tatl, looked around and saw a figure leaning on to a large tree.

"_Well, well, well..._" Tatl rested her hands on her hips and continued, "If it _isn't_ the _Skull Kid_. Where have _you_ been?"

"Good afternoon to you too, Tatl," Skull Kid answered with a slight chuckle.

The Skull Kid started to walk forward. With every step he took, his head twitched and tilted from side to side then forward in a sort of mini-lunge. Stopping in front of the fairy pair, the Skull Kid lifted his mask just above his forehead, revealing his face. He put his hand to his face and adjusted his jaw, making little popping sounds with every movement. He looked down at the unconscious Sonic. He still bled from the wound inflicted by Tatl.

"I wonder if he has anything good on him..." he murmured, his mouth contorting into a toothy smirk.

"You should check that bag of his." Tatl pointed over to the bag lying underneath Sonic. "There should be _something_ good in there."

"Right, then. That shouldn't be a problem..."

Lowering the mask back over his face, Skull Kid walked over to the unconscious hedgehog. He crouched down and pulled the red bag from underneath him, knocking the hedgehog aside. With a simple tug, he swiped it right underneath him.

"Aha," Skull Kid murmured. "Let's see what's inside..."

Tael and Tatl looked on as Skull Kid opened the bag. He reached right in and rummaged through the assorted stuff. He pulled out and threw out various materials: a few golden rings, a glassy wristband, spiked metal boots, two shoes with huge springs attached to the soles, a pair of shoes with wings attached to the heels and a couple shoes made of solid gold.

As it went on, Tatl folded her arms and stomped her feet, looking cross. "That's _it_?" she yelled as the Skull Kid tossed aside a stack of orange and blue medals. "Just that useless _junk_?"

Skull Kid shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Keep looking!" she ordered. "There's gotta be _something_ good in there!"

Ignoring Tatl and Skull Kid, Tael looked back down towards the ground, dejected from what he did. As he gazed, he thought about his sister did to Sonic. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he thought about what he could've done. He could've shouted to Sonic; he could've stopped his sister from attacking him; he could've done anything to stop. Before he could continue pondering, a loud yell sounded out.

_"Hey!"_

Tael snapped back into attention and looked around. He saw Tatl, waving her hands in front of his face.

"What's_ your_ problem?" she said, angrily staring at him.

"Oh, nothing, Tatl!" Tael replied, quickly trying to wipe the tears from his face. "Really, I swear!"

"Are you _still_ crying over that hedgehog?"

Tael only looked back down and uttered, "Maybe…" Noticing the stone-cold scowl on her face, he sighed. "Yes…"

"What _for?_" she yelled.

He cringed a bit in response. "But, Tatl…" He slowly looked up to Tatl. Tears started to form in his eyes again. "He was so nice to me… Why did you have to knock him out?"

Tatl rolled her eyes and shouted, "Oh, will you get _over_ it already?"

"Haha, look what we have here!"

They both looked back at the prancing Skull Kid. He held a long, glowing object in his hand. A faint blue aura emanated from the flute, sparkling brightly even in the dark jungle.

"What the hell is _that_?" Tatl yelled, taken aback by the Skull Kid's display.

"It's a crystal flute!" Skull Kid replied, giggling. "The hedgehog must be one of those _fancy_ types!"

She let out a loud squeal in response. "Ooh, _ooh_! What a pretty flute!" She rushed over to the Skull Kid and tried to grab at the crystalline flute. "Hey, Skull Kid, let _me_ touch it! I wanna see!"

"Wait your turn! _I_ wanna try it too!" Skull Kid put the flute up to the "mouthpiece" of the mask and blew a puff of air into the flute. As he did, a loud hollow note rang out. Both the Skull Kid and Tatl giggled at the sound he made.

After looking at the downed hedgehog, Tael glanced at the flute and uttered, "Hey, can I try the flute, too?"

"You _can't_, Tael," Tatl ordered, glaring at the saddened child. "What would we do if you dropped and broke it?"

"But sis-"

"No buts!" she yelled, folding her arms over her chest. "You can't touch it, and that'll be the end of it!"

"Aw, but..." He let out a deep sigh of disappointment. "W-why can't I try it out too?"

"It's not _yours_, that's why!" With that, she turned her attention back to the giggling Skull Kid.

Tael closed his eyes and balled his fists angrily. Even though he loved his sister a lot, that bit of hypocrisy on her part began to wear on his nerves. Just before he could reply to her, he heard a loud whistling sound from behind. He turned around and gasped.

"Uh-oh!"

* * *

_Ugh, what the heck happened?_

Sonic lifted his head up as much as he could and felt the back of his shoulder. Blood still ran down from it a bit from the head wound. He looked around in a daze; head still throbbed in pain from the white-haired girl's assault. He looked down and noticed most of his items were laid strewn along the jungle floor.

_Why is all my stuff on the ground?_ he thought. _What the-_

He looked over and saw a trio of figures surrounding his bag. Two of them were Tael and the cream-haired girl that struck him, yelling at each other. The girl wore a bright yellow dress whose skirt, cut like flower petals, barely reached halfway down her thighs. Like Tael, she had four huge translucent wings; however, her wings were much larger in wingspan to better support her larger figure.

The third figure was a strange imp-like creature, wearing a large red witches' hat, the crown of which lined with a ring of orange and green leaves. Red and green in color, respectively, the tunic and shorts it wore hung loosely against its near-skeletal frame, held down by a belt consisting of a series of wooden rings bound together. With its thin and twiggy frame in conjunction with its blue, ghost-like skin, the figure looked almost like a living corpse. Its most unique feature, however, was the strange mask it wore.

Many different colors and symbols adorned its distinct heart-shaped design. Long multi-colored spikes lined the rim of the mask; four jutting out diagonally from both sides and two stuck straight up from the top like demonic horns. A series of small holes were carved into it near the mouthpiece. Its most striking feature, however, was its large "eyes." Small green irises, complete with pinpoint pupils, were painted onto the mask's sunset-colored sclera, giving it an unerring look to it.

As Sonic looked at the masked imp, he noticed a faint blue aura emanated from its hand. When he squinted his eyes to take a closer look at the blue glow, he gave a small gasp at what he saw.

_My flute!_

The masked imp played around with his flute, tossing it in the air like it was a doll. Tael and the cream-haired girl, on the other hand, were arguing amongst each other. He quickly got to his and glared at them, fists clenched. He reached into his quills and took out a small metal whistle. Taking in a big breath, he put it to his mouth and blew straight into it. An ear-splitting sound rang out from the whistle, scaring away nearby wildlife. The winged pair looked up in alarm and looked behind themselves. Tael shrieked and immediately hid behind the white-haired girl.

The masked imp looked back at the hedgehog and jumped back in shock. "W-who are you?"

"A pissed off hedgehog!" he screamed, sending the imp back further. "What are you doing with my Mystic Melody?"

"The Mystic Mel - oh, um, _this_? Well, I - uh..." The imp hid the Mystic Melody behind his back, shaking his head. "W-what flute? I don't see any flutes around here!"

Sonic put his whistle back in his quills. "You gave yourself away, you idiot!" He stomped toward the imp, nose flared and muzzle flushed a bright red color. "That's _my_ Mystic Melody that you have in your hands! Hand it over, _now_!"

Skull Kid stepped back even further, looking around in an attempt to find a way past him. "Well, I found it lying on the ground and I just thought it would be okay! I didn't know it was yours, honest!"

Sonic lunged at the imp, fist extended. Using his unharmed arm, he grabbed the Skull Kid and hoisted him up into his face. "I said, 'give me back my flute,' imp!"

"Put him down, you dirty_ rat_!"

"Huh?" Sonic looked and saw Tael and the winged girl. Seeing the winged girl wrap her arms around Tael's shoulders shocked him a bit, until he thought about it. Why else was the kid so hesitant on his words about his family…

"Tael!" Sonic yelled, voice rising in anger. "You were _with_ these guys?"

Tael only looked away in response.

"So, it _was_ a trap?" He balled his fist. "You little-"

Just then, the masked imp shook himself out of his grasp and leaped over him. Without the leverage of the imp's weight, he lost his balance and fell to his knee. As he started to get back on his feet, the imp jumped down right on his head, sending him headfirst into the muddy ground. Landing on his feet, the imp took off into the jungle, with Tael and the girl alongside him.

"Ta-ta, rodent!" the imp shouted just as he, along with Tael and the girl, disappeared into the forest.

Forcing his head out of the mud, Sonic quickly got back on his feet. His shoulder stopped bleeding; however, the throbbing pain in his head only grew since his head got sent into the ground. He trudged over to his bag, holding his injured arm in place. Reaching inside, he pulled out some bandages. After patching up his shoulder wound, he started to gather his remaining stuff. To his surprise, he found that his stuff stayed relatively intact - only his flute was missing. Once he gathered his belongings, he carefully placed the bag back on his back.

"Okay," Sonic growled, looking ahead. "now to find those guys..."

With that, he took off down the dirt path after the trio of thieves. The jungle seemed to meld together as he went faster and faster, dodging every object in his path. He tucked his arms in as close to his body as he could, relieving himself of drag. In only a few seconds, he managed to catch up with the fleeing thieves. As he caught up to the pursuing thieves, the imp looked back towards him and gasped.

"Damn, he's fast!" the imp yelled, pointing back at Sonic. "Tatl, do something! Distract him! _Hurry_!"

Nodding, the white-haired girl stopped in her tracks. Reaching into her blouse, she pulled out a huge brown ball-like object. Ignoring her, Sonic only took after the imp faster. Just as the imp was within reach, he felt a slight tap on his head.

_"Hey, hedgehog..."_

Confused, he looked back and saw the white-haired girl clinging on to him by his bag with one arm. She held a brown ball in her other arm. "What the-"

"Surprise!"

She lobbed the ball right in his face. As it smashed into his face, the ball split open and emitted a huge flash of light. The light - whose intensity rivaled that of the Sun - locked Sonic's muscles in place for a split second. He could feel his pupils shrink at the sight of the abrupt light. As the instantaneous paralysis subsided, he let out a loud shriek, rubbing at his eyes as hard as he could.

"Can't see!" he screamed. "_Can't see!_"

In his blindness, Sonic stumbled over, out of the imp's path and went headlong into a nearby tree. At the speed he was stumbling around, he struck the tree with a mighty crack.

"_I… I…_"

After a couple seconds, he fell to the ground with a soft thud as the world faded into black.

* * *

_Author's Note__:_ Hello, reader!

First, I would like to thank you for taking time out of your day to read this story up to this point (unless you cheated and jumped straight to the end of the chapter, anyway). As can be seen here, this is a _Sonic the Hedgehog_ / _The Legend of Zelda_ crossover. Essentially a retelling of the game _The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask_, this story chronicles Sonic the Hedgehog and Tatl's journey through the four corners of Termina to seek the help necessary to stop the catastrophic descent of the rogue moon before it destroys the world and everything on it. By now, you must probably be wondering why I'm doing a video game novelization for my fanfic. What's the point, right? Don't those things, if they don't outright die off after a couple chapters, usually wind up being little more than a dialogue-filled game walkthrough? Well, I do hope that this story will serve as one of the few exceptions to that unfortunate rule for you.

The idea that inspired this story started off like this: what if the events of _Majora's Mask_ were experienced by Sonic the Hedgehog, as opposed to Link? How would a more talkative and optimistic character, more used to having to save the world from nefarious individuals, respond to all the doom and gloom that Termina is going through thanks to the Skull Kid's actions? How would they respond to being reduced to a position where they can do little, if at all, about it? What would it be like running around the world in an attempt to solve its problems, knowing firsthand what would occur and the precise ramifications of said occurrence should you fail?

As far as how the story will play out, its general layout will be like this:

There will be two main cycles in this story. The first cycle will play out just like it did in the game, where Sonic is transfigured into a Deku Scrub and he and Tatl's attempt to retrieve Majora's Mask from the Skull Kid will fail. The second cycle will actually show Sonic and Tatl's journey around Termina. Using story elements from the original game and its manga adaptation, I will give a more action-oriented take on the game's events. However, as one of the darkest Zelda games yet, it would be nothing short than a disservice on my part not to even try to keep the general tone present.

Also, as far as reviews are concerned, any constructive feedback is, and will always be, much you have a question, advice or concerns about the story that you wish to bring up, you can either send me a private message concerning it here or on TV Tropes. Either way, you _will_ receive a response, so don't be afraid to ask.

Thanks you for reading and have a nice day!


	2. A Reluctant Alliance

_C__an't… see…_

Sonic's vision, once foggy to the point of total blindness, slowly started to come together. What once were patches of color became trees, bushes and other plant foliage. He stumbled back onto his feet and grabbed his nose. Blood dripped down from his nostrils and onto the ground. Right in front were the remains of a tree, fallen and completely smashed to the point of looking like a pile of sawdust. The stump left behind had a lower-half impression of a person-shaped hole smashed into it.

As he stood there in pain, all he could think about was the trio of thieves that evaded him, especially that white-haired winged girl that threw the flash ball. Letting out a loud growl, he screamed.

"What's _with_ that crazy girl?" he shouted, shaking his fist in the air.

Noticed that his nostril were still dripping blood, he reached into his bag and took out a large piece of tissue paper. Tearing it in half, he placed both pieces of paper right into each nostril. Putting the rest of the tissue away, he looked around in anger.

He stood in another clearing, with only a few groups of bushes and stumps around. He looked around, trying to find any sign as to where the thieves were. Going over to the bushes, he searched around inside them. Getting near the fallen tree, he saw a long strand of creamy-white hair right in front of a huge wooden tunnel carved in at the base of a giant tree. He knelt down and picked it up, eyeing it suspiciously. Even in the absence of sunlight in the thick darkness, it managed to emanate a soft yellow light.

"Could this be from that girl?" he murmured. He looked over to the tunnel. "Well, there's only one way to find out..."

With the hair in hand, he took off into the wooden tunnel. Inside, he saw a small wooded area. Two trees grew near the entryway. Right in front of him was a long stairway made entirely of tree stumps, leading up to another entryway. Huge leaves and other bits of foliage lined the entrance, giving it an elegant look. With a nod, he made his way up the wood stairway, leaping from stump to stump. As he leaped, he looked up to the sky; it took out a greenish appearance, not unlike the skies from Blaze's world. Its look left him with an uneasy feeling in his stomach - was this another way into that world?

After leaping up to the entryway, he took off into it. Complete darkness surrounded him deep within. After running down the seemingly endless hallway for a few seconds, he saw a glimmer of light. He smiled - perhaps this was just a shortcut into another part of the jungle. As he came closer and closer to the light, his smile soon turned into a frown. Before he knew it, he found himself looking over a gigantic chasm. Even with the glimmer of light, he could barely see anything in the near pitch-black room.

_Where did they go?_ he thought. _D-did they jump off…?_

As Sonic stepped back, he felt a small cracking sound right below his feet. He jumped back and clutched his chest. His heart pounded like a jack hammer at the sudden shock. The cracking sound grew louder and louder as he stood there, unable to discern what was going on due to the dark room. He felt the ground starting to slide down. Before he knew it, the bit of ground gave way in one mighty crack, sending him sliding right into the chasm below.

_"NOOOO!"_

He tried to stay on the bit of ground for as long as he could, even trying to cling onto it. Terminal velocity eventually caught up and he started to drift away from the ground. He let out a loud scream as he fell faster and faster into the stark abyss. Every muscles in his body tightened, his quills tensed up erect. He tried to gain some control of his fall, even trying to use his quills to stick to the wall, but to no avail. As he fell, strange runes flashed before his eyes. The static images were in many different colors. The images of faces, masks and various other objects spun faster and faster, blurring past him as he fell.

After falling for what seems like hours, Sonic slowly saw a room slowly coming into view. At first, he could only make out blue and green blotches. Then, as he came closer, more and more details could be made out. What appeared to be a water-filled cavern came into view. He could only scream as he fell closer and closer to a piece of ground elevated above the water. In a flash, he slammed into the ground with a loud crash. As the pain from the fall went through his entire body, his vision quickly went black.

After a few seconds of silence, he opened his eyes and let out a groan. He looked around him, but could only see darkness. He felt an odd scratch run through his stomach. He twiddled his fingers around him and felt something furry and droopy directly above him. He tapped on the mystery object for a second and heard a hollow sound echo through his head.

He let out an annoyed sigh and growled. "Dang it, not again!"

Sonic was no stranger to getting his head jammed in places he wished he hadn't. Emerald Coast, Mystic Ruin, Leaf Forest, the outskirts of Apotos - the more he thought about, the more it seemed that some higher force was out to get him. That they were all his fault to some extent didn't matter to him. He hated the dirt rubbing and cracking on his fur, the crushing feeling of the blood rushing to his head, the light feeling of his legs dangling helplessly in the air. Everything about it just bugged him.

He pressed his hands and feet against the ground beside him and pushed down upon it with as much force as he could muster. He wiggled his head from side to side, brushing hard against the hard soil. The earth around his head began to loosen as he pushed harder and harder, letting in little bits of dirt and light with every movement. Looking up as far as he could, he could make out a couple pink leaves, hanging from a reddish rim. After a couple seconds of pushing, he started to see past the leaves and spotted a pool of water. Freedom was at hand!

With one final, mighty shove, he dislodged his head from the ground. The sudden force, in addition to the blood abruptly rushing back to the rest of his body, sent him stumbling backwards in a daze. He gritted his teeth and let out another grunt as he rubbed his forehead, throbbing in pain.

He grunted loudly as he rubbed harder to relieve the pain. "Dang! I _hate_ it when I do that!"

Opening his eyes, he looked around and saw a large plant, complete with a hole shaped like his face. Green leaves covered what remained of the base of the plant, with a few pink petals lying around it. Looking around, he saw a dimly-lit room. A single large pool of water situated right in the middle of the room, separating the other side of the room from the lonely patch of ground he stood on. A moist, humid air lingered all around — not unlike that of the jungles from before. He could hear small drips coming from the wall behind and to his side.

He stood there, wondering what has just transpired. Where was he? How did he get here? For that manner, where was that masked kid and that winged girl? As he pondered, one thought suddenly struck him: what became of Tael? The last thing he saw of him was before he crashed into the tree. Suddenly, bright lights lit up on the ceiling, taking Sonic by surprise. He backed up and grunted, putting his hand over his eyes to dim the light. He could see little spots before his eyes. As he rubbed his eyes, he heard faint whooshing sounds ahead of him.

_"Huh?"_

He looked ahead and gasped.

On the other side of the room, the imp floated before him in the air, under the glow of seven "lights" beaming down into the room. His back was reclined, as if he was lying on a bed. His arms were folded across his chest, like levitation was second nature to him. He still wore the heart-shaped mask, unmistakable with its kaleidoscopic symbols and manic yellow eyes. Under the lights, the "eyes" of the mask almost appeared to glow. A faint, familiar-looking purple fog emanated from his puppet-like body, crackles of lightning flashing into view every other second.

The winged pair fluttered beside the masked imp, the loud beats of their insectile wings echoing throughout the room. The winged girl looked directly at Sonic, bearing a weird toothy smile on her face that sent a chill down his spine. Her creamy-white hair appeared to shimmer under the looming glow of the lights. As Sonic looked over at Tael, the winged child simply looked away from him, pouting his lips.

"Long time no see, blue hedgehog," said the imp, waving over to Sonic. "How was the fall? Did anything get broken?"

"You!" Hopping to his feet, Sonic glared at the relaxed imp. "Where on Earth did _you_ come from?"

"_Earth_?" The imp laughed. "Wow, you _really_ don't have a clue of where you are, huh?"

"What? What're you talking about?" Fists clenched, Sonic glared at the masked imp. "Where's my Mystic Melody, imp?"

The imp stared at him blankly. "Oh, you _still_ want that crystal flute?

"Where is it, imp?" he yelled.

"Oh, I have it right here." With a sigh, he patted his pant leg. Eyeing it, Sonic saw the tip of the Mystic Melody sticking out from the imp's pocket. "Just step over here if you want it."

"Wait," Sonic shouted, "How can I be sure that you won't attack me?"

The imp laughed mockingly. "I assure you, blue hedgehog, you won't be attacked. Just come over here..._ slowly... _and the flute is yours. You can manage to do _that_, right, speedy?"

"Enough of these _games_, imp! Throw the flute over here, _now_!"

The imp waved his finger tauntingly at Sonic. "No, no, no, _no…_" He pulled out the Mystic Melody and started to toss it in the air. Sonic followed its every movement, looking out for any way it could be damaged. "If you want the flute so bad, you'll have to come here and get it yourself…"

_Oh, I'll do more than that, imp..._

With a reluctant thought in mind, Sonic slowly made his way over to the imp. He waded through the shallow pool separating him from the trio. As he approached the imp, the room was silent, with only the rushing water sounding off. Making his way to dry land, he looked over to the winged pair. The winged girl whispered to the masked imp, silently giggling every time with every glance towards Sonic. Tael floated a bit behind the girl and imp. He silently shook his head, with a frown on his face.

Sonic stopped and stared at the frowning child in confusion. Was he giving him a sign? He shook his head and moved on. As he finally made his way over to the imp, he suddenly froze in place.

_"Huh?"_

Sonic tried to move his legs, but it didn't budge. A dark purple cloud appeared in a flash around him, concentrated mostly on his limbs. He looked back up at the Skull Kid, who chuckled at the frozen Sonic.

"Oh, come now, rat!" Placing the Mystic Melody back in his pocket, the imp let out a little chuckle and shook his masked head. "Did you _honestly _think you could just simply get it from me like _that_? Wow, you really _are _stupid!"

Sonic gritted his teeth and looked over at Tael. The winged boy, in turn, looked away from him. Sonic muttered something under his breath.

"Now, now," the imp said tauntingly. "There will be no profanity in front of your superior!"

Sonic gasped at hearing the masked imp's bold statement. "_Superior_?" he screamed angrily, glaring at the Skull Kid. "Are you _serious_?"

"Of course, I am. It's not like you can do anything about it."

"_Try me_!"

The imp laughed mockingly. "You honestly think you could take me on as I am now? As _you_ are now? You must be some kind of _fool_!"

"Huh." Sonic smirked, in spite of his pain coursing through his body. "You don't look so powerful. You may have this weird paralysis thing on me right now, but I've beaten _far_ bigger and stronger beasts than you!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, I have!" His smirk twisted into a snarl. "Now, give me back my flute before I-"

_"Shut up!"_ The imp raised his arm above him and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, a sharp pain ran down Sonic's back. He could only let out a little gasp as his back locked up tight. His heart raced, seizing with pain. His breaths came in very short, ragged gasps as the pain grew. Looking up, he noticed little flashes of lightning appear in the dark aura around him.

The imp floated down to his feet and walked over to the seizing Sonic, with both the winged girl and Tael following close behind. He stopped in front of him and crossed his arms.

The imp murmured, looking at Sonic. "I wonder what I should

with you..." He looked over at the winged girl and sighed. "Hey, Tatl, you have any ideas on how to punish this rat for - I don't know - _existing_?"

The white-haired girl put her hand to her face and sighed. "I don't know. We _could_ just simply dispose of him, like we did to that Deku brat from the other day." She looked over at Tael. "Tael, you have any ideas?"

Tael snapped into attention and shook his head. "Come on, Skull Kid," he said. "C-can't we please just give him the Mystic Melody thingy and go back to town now? He's been through enough already an-"

The Skull Kid growled and looked over at the timid child. "_For Goddesses' sake_, Tael! Why must you be such a _drag_?"

"Hey!" Sonic moved his head down as far as he could, eyes twitching from the shocks. "Leave the kid alone, imp!"

The masked imp looked back at Sonic and yelled, "Keep out of this, rat!" He snapped his fingers again. "This doesn't concern _you_!"

Another wave of pain coursed through Sonic's body. Sonic could only scream as it went through every part of his body, locking his muscles in place. In a split-second, the air in his lungs rushed out of his frozen body, asphyxiating him in place.

"Hey, Skull Kid." The white-haired girl leaned over to the masked imp. "Maybe we _should_ just let the blue hedgehog go. Let's just take the rest of his stuff and get out of here."

"What, _you too_?" The imp looked back at the seizing Sonic and yelled, "No, I have a _better_ idea in mind for you!"

As the imp raised his arm, Sonic's blood ran cold. What was the imp planning to do with him? He was already at the imp's mercy and his most prized belonging was gone. Before he could question the implications any further, he heard another snap. Suddenly, the dark cloud covering him dispersed, dropping Sonic back on the ground. He put his hand to his chest and gasped for air. Just as he started to gather his bearings, he heard a loud rustling sound just ahead. He looked up and gasped.

The imp stared down at him, the "eyes" of the mask glowed all over bright yellow. The mask shook violently from side to side, spikes banging against each other and the hard shell of the mask. Small wispy purplish-black rings shot out from the "eyes" of the mask, one by one. The rings hovered and circled above Sonic's head like a perverse ring. Once a full circle of rings formed, it stopped and hovered in place right above his forehead. After a couple seconds of inactivity, suddenly, they all flew down into Sonic's head, striking and disappearing into him. The impacts from each ring sent him flying back into the pool of water.

As the final ring flew into his head, he felt the top of his head. His forehead throbbed in pain as a wispy pillar of darkness shot out, like a dark horn. One by one, dark needles shot out and formed around his chest. He clutched his chest and grunted loudly. He felt his heart pound against his ribcage. He breathed in short, ragged gasps as his vision started to dim.

_"W-what's going on?"_

Suddenly, another, even sharper, pain struck Sonic's chest. It felt like his heart was being compressed and slowly torn apart. The pain ran down his torso, starting from his neck, down his spine, throughout the rest of his body. He fell flat on his stomach, into the pool. He looked up and screamed out in pain, distorted by his mouth being partially submerged. A cloud of purple smoke started to form around his body once more. He curled up into fetal position on his side and shut his eyes; trying anything he could to stave off the pain. His fingers and toes started to twitch and convulse. His eyes slowly rolled to the back of his head as he screamed. His vision went dimmer and dimmer, eventually going completely black, with only an echo of his screams to follow.

* * *

Darkness. Silence.

Sonic stood there blankly. Nothing but darkness in sight was all around him. He couldn't hear nor feel anything, not even his heartbeat or the air around him.

_What the..._ w_here am I?_

As he looked around, a flurry of thoughts ran through his mind. Was he alive? Dead? Had the imp actually killed him? The last thing he could remember was darkness and pain. He raised his arm and pitched himself. He couldn't feel the pinch. His eyes widened at this revelation. Perhaps, he had passed away.

He looked all around, seeking out for any visible landmarks in the void. He couldn't feel the tear rolling down his cheek. Suddenly, a loud rustling sound rang out all around him. He jumped back and put his hand to his chest. He could feel his heart beat rapidly in his body. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the rustling noises grew louder and louder, echoing out in the blank void.

In a flash, a group of weird plants appeared around him, forming a small circle.

Sonic crouched down and looked closely at the plants. Each of the seven plants bore a resemblance to the plant he fell in from before. They each had three yellow leaves sticking out from the hole in their centers.

_Where did these come from?_

Suddenly, the rustling sound resonated once more from each plant. One by one, the leaves in the center of the plant started to rise. Sonic stood up and watched in awe as small creatures rose out from the plants. They all came up to Sonic's waist. Red and yellow leaves covered the creatures from head to toe. Small puffs of yellow smoke emanated from their long, tubular mouths. The creatures all swayed their bodies side to side, scraping their leafy limbs against their hard, bark-like skin. Sonic's heart sank as he saw the circle of creatures slowly looked up at him. Huge, yellow eyes stared directly back at him, sending a chill down his spine. With a jump, they leaped and slammed back down upon their plants with a mighty crash.

He fell back and landed on his bottom, shaking from the impact. As he looked up, he saw the creatures glare down at him and walk closer towards him. As they gathered closer, Sonic's quills stiffened to a fine point. He slowly crawled backwards, away from the creatures in front. As he backed up, he suddenly heard a loud squishy noise, followed by the collective gasps of the creatures. He felt something warm slide down his quills. He looked as far back as he could and gasped. One of the plant creatures hung loosely from his quills. One of the hollow hairs ran straight through the creature.

"Oh no!"

Sonic jerked his head forward, shaking the impaled plant creature loose and sending it to the "ground". He clutched his chest, panting from what had just transpired, and looked back at the other plant creatures. The rest of the creatures all stood there in stunned silence. Two of them burst into tears; one fainted; the rest glared down at Sonic.

"You _MURDERER_!" they all screamed.

Sonic hopped back onto his feet and yelled, "Wait, I can explain!"

"You will be punished!" The glaring plant creatures looked up, eyes locked onto Sonic.

"_Whoa_!" Sonic backed away from the disgusted creatures, his hands out in front.

"Kill the blue hedgehog!"

Wasting no time, Sonic ran past them and took off into the never-ending void. As he ran, he heard several gunshot-like sounds ring out from behind him, followed by several loud whooshing sounds. Looking to his side, he saw two large brown objects zoom past his head and fall to the ground with loud bangs. Sonic zipped from side to side; dodging every object that zoomed at him.

He let out a loud scream as he ran further into the endless abyss. His screams echoed throughout the silent room. He heard giant footsteps approach from behind. As the footsteps tapped closer and closer, Sonic felt his stomach muscles tighten. He quickened his pace, trying to avert the unseen source of the noise. Sweat dripped from all over his face, blinding him a bit as some fell onto his eyes. He held both arms out to steady himself as he ran.

Off in the distance behind Sonic, he heard loud puffing sounds echo through the darkness. Sonic looked back and gasped as a giant creature slowly came into view. The behemoth bore an exact resemblance to the plant-like creatures from before. As it came up, it hopped after Sonic, eyes locked on the speedy hedgehog. It crouched its body and hopped faster. With every hop, it sent Sonic bouncing a bit in the air, knocking him off-balance.

With one last powerful hop, it came down upon the "ground" with a titanic force. The shockwave sent Sonic flying high in the air. Screaming as loud as he could, he tried everything he could to control himself, from flapping his arms to spinning his legs. As he came down, the titanic being reached its massive arm out and caught Sonic in its hands.

Sonic struggled against the creatures' grasp, to no avail. Holding him in his hand, the creature stared down at him with its pupil less yellow eyes.

"You will be _punished_ for your misdeed!" the creature bellowed ominously. Its voice rumbled in the "air," rustling Sonic's quills with every word. "You will be _forever damned_!"

The creature lowered its hand and opened its massive maw. Sharp, jagged teeth ran throughout the mouth, like a shark's. A putrid smell ran through Sonic's body. His eyes started to water as the smell lingered in the "air". He felt his stomach starting to convulse and contort about. With a groan, he lowered his face on the creature's hand and coughed. As he coughed, small globs of vomit flew out of his mouth. Once he stopped, he burst into tears.

The creature lowered its head to Sonic's eye level and let out a loud roar. The roar echoed all around the void. It sent even more of the putrid smell in Sonic's direction. With one final anguished gasp, Sonic's face fell flat on the creature's finger.

The creature brought its hand over to its gaping mouth. As it leered closer, Sonic opened his eyes and gasped. He saw row upon rows of sharp teeth, each as long and serrated as saw blades. He could feel the warm, humid air of the creature's breath all around him. He knew it would be the end for him. Sonic closed his eyes and whimpered, waiting for the inevitable to occur.

* * *

After a few seconds, the cloud finally settled, leaving behind a still-twitching Sonic. As he lay there, twitching from the pain, he heard loud fits of laughter sounding from above him. As he opened his eyes, he saw the imp laughing and pointing at him. Tael and the winged girl looked on with looks of mild disgust on their faces.

He looked around the room in confusion. Something felt off to him. Though he was standing, it felt more like he was down on his knees. The grassy ground looked way closer than before. He heard small cracks as he looked around. His body still throbbed and ached in pain.

Groaning loudly, he muttered, "What happened to m-" He stopped and grasped his neck. His voice sounded broken and squeaky. "What the…?"

He looked down at his hands and gasped. His gloves were gone; in their place was a pair of gold bracelets, fitted tightly on his wrists. His now-bare hands were small, wooden and knobby, not unlike the imp's.

_No..._

He looked down at the pool of water in front of him and gasped in horror at the sight that beheld him. His once tall and wiry body was now much smaller, spherical and somewhat pudgy, complete with stubby limbs not unlike that of a young child. Instead of clean blue fur, thorny brown bark covered his body, with small cracks and crevices here and there. Long green leaves, adorned with thorns, jutted out from his head and back where his quills used to be.

The only things that remained the same were his shoes; however, they were a lot smaller than before. The most bizarre change, however, was his face. His face was almost unrecognizable; he bore a strong resemblance to the creatures from his dream: yellow pupil-less eyes, no nose and a long tube-like mouth. Brown, thorny bark covered his face like the rest of the body. Long, green leafy "bangs" covered his forehead, stopping just between the eyes.

"No… it can't be!" Sonic backed away from the pool, shaking his head in disbelief, and fell back on the plant. "This must be a dream!"

Covering his face with his hands, he shook his head and whimpered. "No… no… _no_!" On the other end of the room, he heard a voice say,

"Now _that's_ a good look for you, hedgehog - or should I say, _Deku Scrub!_"

Sonic looked up and stared at the Skull Kid. The masked imp had his bag in his hands, balancing it on the tip of his finger. He and the white-haired girl simply shook their heads at what has transpired. Tael, on the other hand, looked away and shuddered.

"You really _do_ look pitiful now!" he yelled, juggling the bag. "And to think, I was going to give you a slow, burning, _painful _death!"

Sonic cringed at every word the imp screamed. Before he could question what the imp would've done, the imp continued,

"_But..._ I suppose this is better... No… this is _much_ better!"

The imp let loose an even louder holler and started to walk back towards the large stone door, bag in hand. The winged pair followed close behind. As he approached the door, he raised his arm and snapped his fingers. A dark cloud suddenly enshrouded the door. With a simple finger wave, the large door flew open, striking the cavern ceiling with a mighty crash.

He looked back at Sonic and yelled, "I bid you _farewell,_ scrub! Now be a good boy and stay here; you can wallow in your pathetic misery forever! Hope you don't mind me taking your stuff; it's not like _you're_ gonna need it anytime soon!"

Sonic just sat there, looking down on the ground. A single tear rolled down his face, dropping to the ground with a quiet drip. He clenched his fists and muttered, "You've really gone and done it now, _imp…_"

The imp looked back and put a hand to his ear. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Sonic looked up and glared at the masked imp. Letting loose a loud, squeaky growl, he leaped off the large plant and started to run after the Skull Kid. To his surprise, he was still quick on his feet, even in his new diminutive form. He raced over the pool of water in but a couple seconds.

As Sonic ran up to him, the Skull Kid shook his head and pointed towards him. "Tatl…?"

Before Sonic could react - before he could even put up his hands to defend himself - the white-haired girl jumped right in front of him and struck him straight in the chest. He felt the wind rush right out of the body. He could practically feel his ribs fracture with the strike. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest with both arms, groaning in pain.

"Where did you think _you_ were going, small fry?" Wincing, Sonic looked up and saw the white-haired girl, staring down back at him with a smug grin on her face. "Didn't your _superior_ just tell you to stay put?" Her voice, though a tad high-pitched like Tael, carried an air of utter snootiness that simply angered him the longer it echoed in his mind.

"_Superior?_" Sonic leaped to his feet and yelled, "Get out of my way! Your 'superior' is _dead_ once _I'm_ through with him!"

"Uh… huh." She cackled loudly. "I don't _think_ so." Raising her leg, she kicked him back down.

As Sonic slowly rose himself up from the ground, he felt a sharp pain coming from his stomach. Though hard and woody, she still managed to hurt him a good deal. As he opened his eyes, trying to ignore the pain, he found himself being looked down upon by the winged girl. She crouched right over him, resting her arms on her knees. Letting out a short cackle, she reached over and raised his head up towards hers. Her blood-red eyes stared directly into his, sending a chill down Sonic's spine.

"Aw, what's the_ matter_?" she cooed mockingly, chuckling to herself. "Got a little _boo-boo, _huh? Well, _maybe_ you should have stayed in the forest, then, you little _TWERP_!"

Suddenly, a loud shriek rang out from behind her:

_"__S-Sis__!"_

"Huh?" The winged girl looked back and noticed the stone door starting to lower. "Oh, no!" The winged girl leaped off Sonic and sprinted for the door. Just as she reached it, the large door slammed down right in front of her.

"Whoa, hey, wait a minute!" She grabbed onto the sides of the door and tried to pull it aside. "Hey, _Skull Kid_, wait for me! I'm still in here with that _twerp_!_ You two had better not leave without me!_" As she strained to lift up the door, it started to rise.

As it was raised up a bit at a time, Sonic noticed that the dark shroud covering the door was starting to disperse. He then looked down and noticed that one of her feet was right under the door. "Hey!" he shouted. "The door's about to-!"

"_Shut up_!" she retorted.

Sonic could only cover his eyes as the dark cloud covering the door faded away. He knew it would not end well for her. He heard the door crash back down on the cavern floor with a mighty bang, coupled with a quiet snap. What followed was a loud, anguished scream, added with little crunching sounds.

"_Oh boy,"_ Sonic muttered to himself. "That _had_ to hurt…"

He opened his eyes and saw the white-haired girl down on the ground, rubbing her feet aggressively. She rocked to and fro, trying her hold back her screams as she rubbed her feet vigorously. Her wings drooped along her backside, appearing more like a translucent sheet. Tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes, regardless of her efforts. She rested her head on her legs and sobbed, broken by little gasps.

Over on the other end of the room, Sonic stumbled to his feet and looked over to the sobbing girl. He only could shake his head at her plight. Part of him hated her with a passion; seeing her injury as nothing less than karmic, if a little disproportionate, justice after what she did. But another part just couldn't bear to see the girl cry like that after her friends basically ditched and hurt her. After standing there in silence for a few seconds, he breathed a heavy sigh and nodded his head. He figured that he would at least check to see if she was okay; even with what she did, it wouldn't be right to just laugh at her predicament.

He slowly walked over to the girl. With every small step he took, he took a shallow sigh as a flighty feeling settled in his stomach. Though he still had his earlier altercation with her in mind, he still continued on. Approaching the winged girl, he tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey, is..." He was taken aback at hearing his own, much squeakier, voice come out of the nozzle he had for a mouth. Now calm, he could really hear the startling differences of his new voice. This would take some getting used to. "Is there anything I can do?" he squeaked, standing above the winged girl.

The girl glanced up at Sonic and muttered, "Anything you can do..." Her wings slowly rose with every mumbled word.

"Huh?" He leaned forwards, trying to hear what she said. Before he could react — before he could even put up his hands to defend himself — the winged girl shot up and smacked him clear across the face, sending him flying back near the pool of water.

"Anything you can _DO__?_" she growled. "It's _all your fault_!"

_"My fault?" _Sonic repeated, breaths in broken gasps. "What do you mean, '_my_ fault?'"

"If I wasn't dealing with _you_, I wouldn't have been separated from my _brother_!"

Sonic shot back up to his feet, yelling, "If it wasn't for _you_ and your friend, you wouldn't even _be_ in this mess, and you know it!"

"Yeah, well...!" She sneered and turned her back towards him, crossing her arms. "Well, don't just stand there and look stupid, Deku boy!" she ordered. "Do something about that _door, _so I can get back to my friends!"

Before Sonic could object, he stopped and stared at her. Deku? That was what the masked imp called him a few minutes ago. Shaking his head, he said, "Deku? What kind of lame insult was that?"

The girl rubbed her forehead and muttered, "Oh, for the love of...!" Before he could react, she reached over and grabbed him by the collar. Hoisting him up to her face, she glared directly at him. "_You!_ _A__re! __A!_ _Deku! Scrub! _That's what the Skull Kid turned you into, _you du__mbass_! An insignificant little plant thing called a _Deku Scrub!_ A creature too _weak_ to even fight off an anemic _chuchu _called a _Deku Scrub__!__ GOT IT NOW?_"

Sonic just glared at the winged girl. Rage filled his heart at the girl's word. He clenched his fists tightly, barely holding them back. In other situations, this wouldn't really affect him so much, but now… that girl was just rubbing salt in the wound. Only her earlier predicament prevented him from outright punching her out right then and there.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" The girl squinted her eyes. "What, is there something on my face? Will you stop staring at me like a braindead cucco and open that door already?"

"Hold on!" He pointed his finger right at the winged girl's chest. "Why should _I_ help _you_ get back to your friend, after what he's done to _me_?"

"Oh, c'mon!" she screamed, her voice even shriller than it already was. "Are you _really_ going to turn down a request for help from a helpless, _wounded_ girl?"

"_Helpless?_" Sonic looked her straight in the face and yelled, "You just tried to kill me back there, you mental case! _TWICE!_ What do you think I am, _stupid_?"

Growling with the ferocity of a bear, she looked him straight in his face and screamed, "Listen to me, you little _twerp!_ I've just been left behind by my friends, I'm in crippling pain from my foot and _now,_ I have to put up with _your_ stupid ass! I'm in absolutely _no_ mood to deal with _any_ of your stupid crap, _okay_?" She glanced over to the door. "If you _don't_ open that door over there right, so help me, I will _rip _off each and every one of your spikes and_ shove_ them _so far_ in _each_ and_ every_ orifice of your body, you'll-!"

"Okay, okay!" Sonic yelled. "I'll do it!"

Throwing him down to the ground, she finally screamed, "_S__O__ HURRY THE HELL UP, __ALREADY__!_"

Sonic got up and walked towards the door, trembling and shuddering in silence. As he walked, he saw her glaring down at him, arms crossed. Her glare alone could kill him. As Sonic walked up to the door, he looked up and noticed a strange symbol painted on the door. It bore a strange resemblance to Sonic's new face and the dream creatures, with red leaves and black soulless eyes. He looked around the door, trying to look for a door knob. After spotting nothing of the sort, he sighed.

"Alright, I guess I'll just have to lift it from the bottom."

"_Hey, stupid!_"

Sonic looked back and saw the girl, fluttering just above the ground with her huge insectile wings. Her legs were crossed, holding her injured foot in place with her hands.

"Stop wasting time and _open that door already!_" she screamed angrily.

"Fine, fine..." Crouching down, he grabbed the bottom of the door. He started to pull the door up with as much strength as his new body could muster. As he did, the door started to budge. Pulling harder and harder, the door slowly started to rise. Once he raised it up to just above his head, he looked back at the girl as far as he could.

"C'mon!" he screamed back. "Hurry up!"

"Well, it's _about tim_e!" She quickly fluttered over to him. "You had _better_ not drop that door on me!"

Sonic glared at her._ Don't give me ideas..._

She quickly flew past the door and into the tunnel. Breathing a heavy sigh, Sonic slowly trudged over to the exit. His body strained hard from keeping the heavy stone door in place. His arms started to wobble and twitch, feet the same. Reaching the other side of the door, he threw the door upwards as high as his diminutive body could manage the strength to do. Just as the door came crashing back down, he tucked in his legs and rolled right into the doorway. As he landed back on his feet, the door struck the wooden floor with a mighty crash.

"There,_ now_ you're through!" Sonic brushed his hands off and sighed. His body still tingled from the strain of supporting the door. "I hope you're happy, because as soon as I get myself together, I am _outta _here!" He stormed off past the winged girl and started to walk down the long tunnel.

"Hey, hold on!" Suddenly, he felt a strong tug from one of his thorns. "Are you really planning on leaving _me_ behind, in _my_ condition?"

He could practically feel steam billow out of his ears. After all that he went through earlier, he was not going to put up with any more of her. He looked back to her, eyes locked on her face.

"_Leave me_ _ALONE already!_" he screamed.

The girl immediately let go of his thorns and backed away. "Alright, alright! Calm down, Deku boy!"

"_'Calm down?_" He covered his face with his hand and let out a huge sigh. He clenched his fists, barely resisting the urge to just flat-out strike her. What right did _she_ have to get on _his _case for losing his cool, when _she _threatened _him_? He tapped his foot hard against the wooden ground, leaving little dents on such.

"Look," he said, regaining his cool with every uttered word, "I've already helped you with opening that door. What _more_ could you possibly want from me now?"

The winged girl crossed her arms and glanced away from him. "So, um... about that stuff back there... "

"Yeah...?" Sonic answered, ceasing his foot tapping. "What about it?"

"I... " she muttered, not even bothering to make eye contact. "um... apologize for what the Skull Kid did to you, so... I was just wondering if I..." She grabbed his hand and looked him straight in the eyes. "Look, I want you to escort me back to town, okay?"

"What?" The plant-hedgehog just stared at her, mouth agape with shock. "After what you just did to me? You must be out of your _mind_!"

"Hmph!" She crossed her arms and looked away. "Fine, be that way, you little twerp! I was _just_ gonna tell you how to find that Skull Kid!"

"Who're you calling a twerp, you br-" Sonic abruptly paused. "Wait, what did you just say?"

"Oh, _now_ you wanna listen to me?" the girl yelled sarcastically. "Perhaps I _shouldn't_ tell you that again!"

Sonic growled. "Oh, stop playing around! What did you say?"

Pausing, the girl raised a finger to her face, humming loudly to herself. Sonic watched as she hovered there, humming like a hummingbird while not even bothering to acknowledge his presence. Just as Sonic started to say something, she abruptly stopped and faced Sonic.

"Okay, Deku boy," the girl started, smirking, "I'll tell ya... on_ one_ condition!"

"And that condition is...?" Sonic replied, raising an eyebrow at her sudden change in tune.

"Oh, nothing!" She crossed her arms and said, "It's just, I wanna ask ya somethin'..."

"Ask _what_?" Sonic said, getting annoyed by her vagueness.

"… How _old_ are you?"

Eyes shot wide open, Sonic looked straight at the girl, taken aback at what he just heard. Why would this girl ask about his age, of all things? What was she trying to pull? Playing along, he squeaked warily, "Fifteen. Why did you ask?"

"Ah, what a coincidence: I'm fifteen, too."

"What do you mean?"

Before Sonic knew it, the girl was fluttering right above him. She bore an eerily calm smirk on her face, licking her lips flirtatiously. It filled him with a sense of dread, especially after her earlier behavior - just _what_ was she up to?

"So..." The girl leaned down towards him, bracing her forearms against her bare thighs. "You wanna know about that Skull Kid who just ran off, right?"

"Um, yeah?" he replied, stepping back a couple steps.

"Well..." She leaned forward a bit, giving him a view of her cleavage. "I _just so_ happen to have an idea of where he might be going."

Sonic stroked his chin inquisitively. _On the one hand,_ he thought,_ she could just be leading __me__ into a trap to finish the job. Yet, on the other hand, since she was an accomplice of that imp, it would be fair to say that she'd know where he was going._

After a couple seconds of deliberation, he finally nodded. "I'm listening." He stood up straight. "What do you want?"

She smirked. "All you have to do is take me back to the town with you and help me find the Skull Kid and my brother. In exchange, _I'll_ help you get that flute of yours back and perhaps even find a way to return you to normal."

"Hold on. How will I know that you'll keep _your_ end of the bargain?"

"How about this, then…" The girl whispered into his 'ear,' "Once you're back in your regular shape, I'll..."

As she whispered in his ear, Sonic felt a tickling sensation run up his arm. He glanced down and saw the girl run her fingers lightly up and down her arms. Her voice, once somewhat squeaky, took on a deeper, more seductive tone that sent chills down his spine. Not at all helping his situation was what_ exactly _she was telling him. He felt a little warmth around his face as he listened further. After a few seconds of whispering, she stood and put her hand on her hip.

"So, how about it?" She held out her hand. It was wrapped in a glove as yellow as her skirt. "We have a deal?"

After a couple seconds of thinking it over, Sonic finally sighed and held out his hand. "Fine, I'll go along with this. I haven't got much of a choice, anyway."

The girl let out a huge sigh of relief and shook his hand. "Good, so then it's settled!" She clasped her hands together and cackled lightly to herself. "Now then, I'll be your partner… well, until we catch up to that Skull Kid, anyway. Once you're normal again, I'll do… _that_ for you, okay?" She gave him a little wink.

"I _suppose_ it's a fair deal," Sonic said, wincing a bit. "What's your name?"

"Oh, my apologies." Hand to her chest, she continued, "_My_ name is Tatl Beryllia; you can just call me Tatl, if you like. So..." She leaned down and flashed him a sly smile. "What's _yours_, Deku boy?"

The plant-hedgehog crossed his stubby arms, turning his head away from her. "The name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedge-" He stopped, then, with a sigh, added, "Well, I _used_ to be a hedgehog, anyway. Just call me Sonic."

"'Sonic', huh?" Setting up right, Tatl scratched her shoulder and crossed her arms. "Hm, what an oddball name. Who would name their kid something silly like_ Sonic_?"

"The same one who'd name their kids _Tattletale_?_" _Sonic replied, eyebrows raised.

She paused, and sighed. "Fair point. Anyway, well, it's kinda nice to meet you, I guess."

"Yeah, likewise."

"Okay, we've gotten that straightened out." Tatl started to fly past him. "Now, can we stop messing around and get moving? For all we know, the Skull Kid's probably in town by now..."

Sonic let out a sigh and nodded. "Okay, let's get going."

Along with his new travelling companion, Tatl Beryllia, Sonic made his way down the long hallway. In the soft white glow emanating from Tatl's skin, he could make out little floral pictures painted along the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, alternating between green vines and sunset-shaded flowers. As they walked, a large forest room slowly came into view. Short patches of grass covered the ground in the room, giving the earth an oddly colorful appearance to them. Two ledges sat at opposite ends of the room, overlooking a small clearing with a single large flower, much like the one in the previous room, in its center. The ledge in front of the pair also sported a large plant sitting on top of it.

Sonic walked up to the odd plant and stared at it. "It's just like that plant from the other room."

"Hm, I can tell you're not _quite_ used to that Deku Scrub body of yours yet."

"Yep." He glanced up at Tatl; she had a slight look of concern on her face. "You know anything about this plant?"

"Alright, listen up." She floated down on her side and pointed at the flower. "This flower is called a _Deku_ Flower. Deku Scrubs like you can use them as either a temporary shelter or a launch pad of sorts to get to faraway places or higher ledges, or whatever."

"Okay, so it's like a spring… right?

"Basically, yeah," she answered, shrugging her shoulders. "They're kinda like those strange things from your world."

"How do I use it, then?"

Tatl pointed over to the hole in the center of the flower. "All you have to do is jump in this hole; if you wait a couple seconds, some mechanism in there will launch right out of the flower. While you're still in the air, use the flowers you'll get to fly around. Got that?"

After thinking it over, Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I get it now."

"Alright then, Dek, let's put that skill to the test."

Tatl floated over to the edge and leaped off. Flapping her large insectile wings, she flew over to the ledge on the other side of the room. Landing down lightly on her good foot, she turned around and pointed back at Sonic.

"Okay," she yelled, "Use it to get over here!"

With a nod, Sonic walked to the center of the deku flower. He could feel the springiness of the pinkish leaves as he walked; even now, he could feel that the flowers had a weird "bounciness" to him that reminded him of the springs from home. As he looked down the center of the plant, a weird, yet familiar feeling welled up in his stomach. Clutching his chest, he let out a small, squeaky groan. After a couple seconds of blank staring, he sighed.

"Okay, here we go."

Closing his eyes, he leaped right in through the small hole. He opened his eyes and looked around. He could nothing but soil and roots from nearby grass. Looking down to his feet, he noticed he was standing a large coiled-up root-like structure. Waiting inside the dark insides for a couple of seconds, he let out a sigh.

Sucking in a breath of air, he crouched down to his knees. As he did, he heard a whirring sound coming from below him. Just as he looked down, the structure suddenly sprung forward, sending Sonic flying right out of the hole, straight into the air. Air rushed past him as he rose higher and higher. His surroundings became nothing but a blur, shifting from a greenish tone to a brownish tone before finally coming to a stop. In his hang time, he found that he barely grazed his thorns against the ceiling above. He held out his arms and flapped them about, trying as hard as he could not to look down.

Just as his hang time started to come to an end, he felt something moving about in his palms. Looking towards them, he found that, to his surprise, two long, green rods appeared in his hands. The rods had a rigid, yet squishy feel to them that struck Sonic funny. If he didn't know any better, he'd think he was holding large plant stems.

At the far ends of each of the rods, there were large, pinkish buds, not unlike that of the flowers he observed back in Chun-Nan. The buds sprung open, revealing a pair of huge, pink flowers. Just one of each of the flower's four petals could wrap all the way around Sonic's head. The fan blade-like petals on the sunflowers started to spin faster and faster; what was once silly looking poles became miniature helicopter blades.

"Huh?" he said, baffled by the weird display going on before his eyes. "W-what's going on?"

"That's _supposed_ to happen, _duh_!"

He looked down and gasped. A chill ran through his body at the size of the surroundings below him. From his perspective at the height he floated, the winged girl could practically fit in the palm of his hand, if he wasn't holding the weird flowers already.

"Hey!" he screamed down. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Use those flowers to float over here, like I said!"

"You're _sure _this'll work?"

"_Yes_, I'm sure! Now, hurry up before the flowers stop spinning!"

Holding onto the flowers as tight as he could, he tilted his body towards Tatl's direction and slowly drifted towards the other side of the room. His eyes locked ahead, trying hard not to look down. As he floated closer towards the area over the ledge where Tatl stood, the flowers started to sputter and halt, twisting back and forth for brief spurts of movement. One by one, the petals started to tear apart from the erratic movement and drift off, towards the grounds.

"Hey!" he shouted, waving his arms frantically trying to keep the flowers spinning. "How do I get down from here?"

"Let go of the flowers!" Tatl yelled from below. "C'mon, a _child_ could do that!"

He froze in place, trying to fathom Tatl's order. "_What_?" he screamed. "You want me to drop from _this_ height?"

She rubbed her forehead, grunting angrily at the ground. "Let go of the damn flowers, you idiot! Now, before the flowers give way!"

With an exasperated sigh, he released his hand from the flower stems. Freed from his grasp, the flower stems sputtered and spun around in the air, before finally crashing into the wall. Now under gravity's grasp once more, Sonic started to fall, feet first, towards the grassy ledge below. As he fell, he closed his eyes, solemnly waiting for the inevitable pain to commence.

After what felt like hours, he suddenly came to an abrupt stop. A sharp rush of pain ran up his body from his feet following the sounds of a loud thud. He gave a loud groan, unable to move from the shock of the impact. In the midst of near total paralysis, he started to fall head-first. Just as his face hit the ground, he caught himself with his hands. Down on his knees, he breathed as hard as his little body could muster from his tubular mouth, shocked by how he managed to survive the fall.

"_See_?" Sonic glanced up and saw Tatl fluttering over him, smirking down while wearing a smug grin on her face. "Now, was it _that_ hard?"

"W-why didn't you catch me?" he gasped, still in the throes of shock. "You were right _there_; you _knew_ I was gonna hit the ground!"

"What, and get myself _more_ hurt than I already am?" She snorted. "As if I_, Tatl Beryllia,_ would do something _that_ stupid!"

Sonic growled, glaring at the smug girl as she chuckled.

"Now," she continued, "Are you gonna stand there looking like a braindead cucco, or are you gonna open that door for me?"

Cursing to whatever higher being he could think of under his breath, Sonic slowly stumbled back to his feet. Shaking himself off, he trudged over to the nearby door. The door that stood before him looked different from the stone door from before. Brown and woody, the odd door bore a stronger resemblance to that of a row of laid-out boards nailed together by each other's edge than any door he saw. The only feature the door that wasn't dirt brown was a small, metal oval-shaped doorknob, set at his forehead-level.

He walked up and reached up to the knob. As he gripped tightly on the knob, a chill ran up his arm. The doorknob felt loose, as if it was barely hanging in place. Leaning his head towards the door, he slowly twisted the knob. Hearing a small click, he pulled back, hand still clinging onto the doorknob. The door swung back, opening without a hitch. Resting his body against it to hold it open, he glanced towards Tatl and bowed his head down.

"Ladies first," he muttered, rolling his eyes to himself.

Tatl flew up and patted him on the head. "Why, _thank you_, Dek," she said smugly. "Nice to see you have _some_ manners!" She fluttered past him and entered the doorway, cackling softly to herself along the way.

Letting out a deep, exasperated sigh, Sonic shrugged his shoulders and followed the winged girl. "This is going to be a long day..."

* * *

_Author's Note__:_ And with that, Chapter 2 has come to an end.

How is the story so far? Did you find this chapter enjoyable? Boring? If you have any questions or problems with this story, post your concerns as a review or send me a private message. Any constructive feedback is, and will always be, much appreciated.

As for what exactly has Tatl promised Sonic in exchange for his services... well, I can't really elaborate on that just yet. However, I'll give a small hint: whatever it is, it will likely not cause the "T" rating to rise to an "M" rating. Just throwin' it out there...

More chapters will be coming very soon!


	3. Entering A New World

_"Hey, come check this out!"_

_"What the heck is that?"_

Sonic and Tatl stood atop a rocky cliff face overlooking up a massive chasm. A thick layer of grass and moss were also covered with. A lit brazier burned brightly besides them, illuminating the platform they stood dark cavern. The "ceiling" above them was as black as the chasm it looked down upon, with not a sliver of sunlight in sight. A moist, grassy scent lingered in the air – no doubt from the decaying cavern plant matter.

Before the pair stood a large tree-like plant growing in front of a massive wooden tunnel. The plant structure was almost completely bare; only a couple of leaves remained on its otherwise-completely stripped branches. Its most striking feature was a warped, face- like marking carved on its center, bearing an unsettling resemblance to the Deku Scrub creatures from Sonic's "nightmare". The look on the "face" was that of pure, unbridled agony; almost as if the last moments of its life were spent living through the worst forms of torture any being can think of. Its "eyes," empty and black like the nightmare plants, stared blankly ahead towards the stark abyss behind them.

"You know, it's strange…" Tatl's voice was unusually calm, almost dreary. The strange plant appeared to mystify her as well.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked, folding his arms in deep concentration towards the plant. The more he stared in the eyes of the uncanny tree, the more it sent chills down his spine. It felt as if it was trying to stare directly into his soul.

Tatl rested her hand upon the plant, right below the leafy branch. "I mean, the way you look right now looks kinda like this tree here. It looks all dark and gloomy, almost like the last moments of its life were of complete and utter pain. Looks like it could start crying any minute now, too..." She let out a sigh and muttered, "How sad..." The way she said it, her voice started to crack, as if she was holding back tears herself.

"Hmm…"

Sonic spotted a small puddle of water next to the warped tree. He leaned over and gazed down upon it. A reflection of himself looked back at him; it too sported a sorrowful frown on his wooden face not unlike that of the tree; only his bright, sunset-toned eyes kept it from appearing soulless. The longer he gazed upon his saddened face, the more he had to fight the urge to cry. It appeared so foreign to him, unlike anything he ever looked upon; that it looked like an almost exact copy of the warped tree didn't help at all. Was this the plant Tatl talked about before his transformation?

Breathing a short sigh, he muttered, "Hey... um, Tatl?"

Tatl glanced over her shoulder at him. He could've swore he saw tears rolling down her face. "What's up?" she replied.

"Do you know how long this was here?" Sonic said, pointing at the strange tree.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I just started seeing this thing a few days ago."

"You think the Skull Kid had anything to do with this?"

She crossed her arms. "I doubt it. The Skull Kid may be a troublemaker, but he would never even _try_ to kill anything. Hell, he even cried when he accidentally killed a bug. As big a crybaby as Tael is, not even _he _would cry after something like _that_."

"Really?" Sonic murmured. "You expect me to believe _that_?"

Giving a little chuckle, she replied, "Just look at _you_, Deku Boy. The fact that you're still alive when he could've just simply snuffed you out is _more_ than enough proof of that."

"_That or he prefers to torture people…"_ Sonic thought, clenching his fist.

"Anyway…" Wiping her face, she started to flutter over to the tunnel entrance. "C'mon, let's keep going. It should be almost sunrise by now."

"Sunrise?" Sonic remarked. "But it was late-afternoon back in my world when I fell down to this place. How long was I out?"

"Yeah, in _your_ world, it was."

"In my world?"

She rested her hands on her hips and stated, "Deku Boy, we're in _Termina_ now. Not "Earth", or whatever the heck that place is called, _Ter-mi-na._ Things here play a bit differently from your world, so I think you should stop your silly comparisons now._ Got that?_"

Stunned by her bluntness, Sonic nodded in response. "Yes, Tatl..." he said, voice trembling with every word.

"_Good_, now _come on_!" As she flew down the tunnel, she yelled back, "The sooner we get to town, the sooner I can get my foot healed and the _sooner_ you can get back to normal!"

Sonic sighed and nodded. Taking one last look at the tree, he followed her into the tunnel. A few seconds later, they stood before a long dirt pathway. The path stretched for miles, cutting straight through a vast forest of trees, whose size seemed to rival that of the Adabat jungles. The "sky" was completely covered by the canopy. A thick, humid fog lingered all around the dark and barren walkway, obscuring what little light that could beam down from the dense canopy above. Faint calls and whistles sounded all around him; some were barely audible. Small puddles of mud and groundwater dotted the dirt pathway.

"Ah…" said Tatl, stretching her arms. He could hear small popping sounds with their every movement. "Welcome to the _Termina Subterranean Forest_, Deku boy."

"The what…?" asked Sonic.

"The Termina Subterranean Forest. Since the beginning, this path links _your_ world to mine. All we have to do is to just follow this _exact _path, and we'll get to the town in no time."

Nodding, Sonic trekked onwards, right along the dirt path as Tatl said. A few seconds in the trek, it, along with the forest surrounding it, appeared to begin to strangely shift and twist around, as if it was situated in the middle of a huge heatwave. As he looked at the display - all the abrupt twists and turns - a sickening, churning feeling started to rise from his stomach followed by a sharp pain in his head. Down on his knees, he closed his eyes, trying to gather his senses. After a few seconds elapsed and the pain started to subside, he opened his eyes and was shocked by what he saw: he now stood where the forest wall used to be, with the trees now on the "ceiling" and "floor".

"Tatl…?" he muttered worriedly.

"Relax, kid." She rested her hand on Sonic's shoulder and smirked. "It's practically a straight line. Just keep going."

He took a few more steps, and in a flash, he stood on the underside of the "forest canopy". "Okay, seriously, what's going on?" he asked, disoriented by the sudden scenery change.

"It's how the Termina Subterranean Forest _works_, Dek," Tatl said, shrugging her shoulders. "Just keep going; we'll be out soon."

Sonic nodded and continued forward. Moments later, he was "on" the other wall of trees and then back on the "dirt ground" again.

As they went down the path, the room corkscrewed around in a clockwise fashion for miles with every interval stretching out farther and farther. As Sonic walked, his body started to get more and more used to the corkscrewing. While he's no stranger to corkscrew paths - it was one of the more common features from his world - with his new body, it was like having to relearn the process all over again. After a while, he was relaxed enough to let his arms and observe his surroundings. The forests of trees began to give way to gray stone walls, with the heavy canopy replaced with a gritty stone ceiling. The dirt pathway soon gave way to stone as they traversed.

"So, Tatl..." he started, looking up to her face, "What kind of creature _are_ you?"

Tatl glanced down at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"I just want to know what kind of being you are. I mean, you look _kinda_ like a human, I guess, but you also have those wings, the glowing hair, the elf ears, an-"

"A _human_? Okay, hold up!" She halted in her tracks and looked back at him. "Let's get _one_ thing straight! I am a _fairy_, you halfwit! Never seen one before, or what?"

"A fairy?" He stroked his chin and snapped his fingers. "Hey, can you go into people's dreams or anything like that? Where I come from, I knew a fairy who could do-"

"_No_, we can go into people's dreams!" Tatl yelled, cutting him off. "See, you're already forgetting what I said! _Why_ would you even ask me such a silly question like that in the first place?"

"Okay, okay!" he yelled, holding his hands up in front of him. "I was just asking a simple question! My bad!"

"_Now_, you got your answer, now let's keep going before my foot drops off!" She drifted ahead of him, grumbling to herself.

Sonic just stood there, baffled by her sudden outburst. _What did I do that time?_ he thought, scratching his head. _Did I strike a nerve? _He sighed and continued on.

After a few minutes of traveling, Sonic reached the end of the long twisted hallway and entered a stone tunnel. As he walked out into the next room, he heard a loud metallic bang ring out from behind him. He turned around and saw a huge door in place of the stone tunnel. It was mostly featureless, with only an outline of a heart carved onto it. He walked up and tapped on it; a metallic hollow sound rang back. He rested his head against the door and sighed. He was trapped. He looked down to the stone floor and saw a huge patch of moss. The air tastesed of decaying foliage and cold, running water. He could hear mechanical sounds ring out all around him.

He turned around and gasped. The room had a gritty and gray look to it; such a jarring change in scenery from the lush, if a tad weird and out-of-place, forest from not too long ago. Huge patches of green moss dotted the whole room, from the cold stone floor he stood on to the large wooden ramp adjacent from him. The moss grew most concentrated near a small stream of water going straight through the center of the room. Floating on top of the stream was a large waterwheel. Standing at a height three times his, it constantly turned about in the water, splashing water in all directions. It filled the room with a distinct churning sound as if it was part of a giant blender. The air smelled of a distinct watery smell that left an odd metallic taste in Sonic's mouth.

"So…" Sonic said, losing his train of thought to the offbeat scenery. Coming back to his senses, he continued, "Where are we now?"

"We're _right_ under the town." Tatl floated up to Sonic and looked around along with him. The tone of her voice was unusually calm, as if her earlier outburst never happened. "Specifically, we're in the Clock Tower, the main landmark of this town."

"A clock tower?" Sonic stroked his chin. "You mean, like the huge one in Spagonia?"

"_Spagonia_? What the he-" She sighed and shook her head. "Yeah… Spagonia. Right, _that _place. Anyway, c'mon, let's go already."

Sonic and Tatl walked up to the large, wooden ramp bridging the two sides of the Clock Tower cellar together. To Sonic's sides, he saw huge, wooden handrails, obscuring where the small river came and went from his perspective. As he took a step onto the ramp itself, he felt a small depression from where his foot rested, coupled with a small creaking sound. Taking a large breath, he held his hand onto the nearest handrail and started to walk. As he walked higher and higher along the wooden ramps to the top of the room, the wooden ramp path turned towards the direction of the river, then straight through the direction of the river. As they made it to the top area, Sonic saw that it didn't really look much better than the cellar area below.

Gritty and gray as the rest of the clock tower, its only feature was a large, wooden pole going down straight the center of the room. It spun counterclockwise, making loud churning sounds. Looking up towards the pole, he saw that it was connected to a large rusty gear, operating in tune to the pole. Though the odd metallic smell still lingered, the room had a different air to it from the lower area. Other than the churning sounds of the gyrating pole and gear, the room had a soft, calm rhythm that resonated throughout the room. If Sonic didn't know better, he could almost hear a song within the sounds of the working clockwork of the tower.

Looking around, he saw a pair of large, wooden doors at the opposite end of the room. Situated at the top of a small flight of stone stairs, the doors towered over the other structures in the room. Etched into the doors' brown, mossy surface was two halves of a symbol that bore a resemblance to that of a clock.

"Hey, is that the way out?" Sonic said, pointing towards the double doors.

"You see any _other_ doors, kid?" Tatl quipped. "Let's _go_ already!"

With that, Sonic took off towards the doors, zooming past the turning pole without pause. As soon as they made it up the flight of stairs, Sonic asked, "How are we supposed to open this?"

"Push on it, duh!"

He saw Tatl press her body against the door. Shrugging his shoulders, Sonic pressed his hands against the door and started to push as well. As they pushed harder and harder, the door started to move forward. After a few seconds of pushing, the doors opened just wide enough for them to walk out.

"Okay, that's enough!" Tatl yelled, ceasing her pushing.

With one final push, Sonic did the same. As they stared onwards, Tatl rested her arm on his shoulder and said, "You ready to go?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

Just as they made it past the double doors, a voice suddenly rang out from behind them:

_You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?_

"Who said that?" Frozen in place from the sudden voice, Sonic glanced at Tatl and whispered, "Was that you?"

"Did that even _sound_ like me, kid?" She whispered back, gritting her teeth.

"Okay, on the count of three, we _both _turn around. One..."

"On the count o-" Tatl groaned, muttering, "Two..."

_"Three!"_

At the sound, Sonic twirled around and spotted a red-haired man standing right beside the gyrating pole, hands folded to his chest. The man was clad in a purple suit and pants, with pairs of golden wristbands and shoulder guards strapped onto his person. He held an odd stance, hunched forward due to the large backpack, easily bigger than he was, strapped onto his back. Adorned on the bag were a numerous collection of masks, each as different from each other as night and day.

"Oh no…. It can't be him…"

Glancing back, he saw Tatl trying to hide behind Sonic as hard as she could. She bore a slightly wide-eyed look on her face, shuddering at the sight of the strange man.

Taking a small breath of air, Sonic slowly made his way down the stairs, Tatl following close behind, and walked up to the man. Looking up towards the man's face, he noticed that the man smiled brightly from ear to ear, eyes closed shut.

After a couple seconds, Sonic finally squeaked, "W-w-who are you?"

"Oh," The man replied. His voice had a quiet, creepily calm tone that sent chills down Sonic's spine. "I do apologize for my lack of manners in addressing your presence. I assure you two I hold no intent in harming either of you." The man bowed his head towards the duo. "I am known as the Happy Mask Salesman. As such, I own the Happy Mask Shop in the capital city of Spagonia."

"Spagonia?" Sonic gasped, taking a step forward. "You came from my world?"

"One could say that I do. While one of my main bases of operations lies in the continent of Spagonia, I travel far and wide, through many lands and locales, in search of wonderful masks. Whether they're of a low value or high is of no real concern for me."

"I see…" Sonic said, crossing his arms.

Tatl leaned close to Sonic's ear, whispering "You see him before?"

"Nope..." Sonic replied, eyebrows raised.

"During my travels in the continent of Adabat, however, a mask of utmost importance was stolen from me. From what I can recall from the incident - admittedly, I only have a vague memory of the events prior to the incident - the culprit was an imp in the woods."

"An imp?"

Sonic glanced back and saw Tatl, crossing her arms and laughing. "Do you expect us to believe that an _imp_ stole your mask?" she said. "Imps aren't even _real_, you know!"

"Hmm…" The Mask Salesman stroked his chin, grin still on his face. "I do recall the imp was also accompanied by a pair of brightly colored beings like yourself. Come to think of it, one of the colorful beings in question bore _quite_ an uncanny resemblance to that of yourself…"

Her cheeks instantly flushed a bright orange. "Oh, uh, heh heh. You _don't say…_" Scratching the back of her head, she turned away from Sonic and the Salesman, whistling quietly to herself.

"At any rate," the Mask Salesman continued, "I am presently at quite a loss... that is, until I found you two."

"Uh, okay...?" Sonic stepped a bit away from the Mask Salesman. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Now don't think me rude, but I have been following you, as you traversed through the jungle. I saw what became of you by the hands of the imp and his… _accomplices_."

Suddenly, the whistling grew louder. Turning back, Sonic saw Tatl crossing her arms. She was drumming her finger against her arms, flapping her wings faster and faster in an attempt to make any distracting sounds.

"Ahem," Sonic said, arms crossed.

Tatl snapped to attention, saying, "Oh, sorry. Carry on..."

Ignoring her, Sonic turned to the Salesman and said, "Yeah, so what? It's not like you can do anything about it…"

"Ah, but you see…" The Mask Salesman put his hand to his chin and stated, "I am in possession of a way to return you to your former self."

_"What?" _Sonic jumped back in surprise at what he just heard. This stranger could provide him the means to return to his original self? With wild thoughts rushing through his mind, he rushed back over to the Salesman. "Really?" he yelled, tugging at his shirt. "Can you _really_ turn me back to normal? How? How? _How?_"

"Indeed, I can." The Mask Salesman nodded, pushing Sonic back. "If you can get back the precious item that was stolen from you by the masked imp, I will be able to return you to normal. In exchange, all I ask of you is that you also get back my precious mask that the imp stole from me."

Sonic froze in place, eyebrow raised in shock. "_What?_"

"What?" The Mask Salesman asked, his beaming grin remaining on his face. "Is it not a simple task? Why, to someone of your pedigree, it should by no means be a difficult task."

"In my normal form, it would be no problem. But in this form..." Sonic looked his wooden body over and sighed. "It won't be so easy. Then again…" Sonic looked back at the Salesman, bearing as much of a smirk as his Deku face could muster. "I'm never one to take the easy way out. I'll try to get your mask. When do you want it back, a week from now?"

"I would like it if you can return it to me within a week's time, except..." The Mask Salesman put his hand to his chin and shook his head. His grin faded from his face a bit.

"Except _what_?" Sonic unfolded his arms. "What's the problem?"

"The one thing is… I'm a very busy fellow, never one to stay in one locale longer than necessary. You should be able to relate in that respect. My concern is that I must leave in three days."

"Three days? Well, that's shouldn't be to-"

"_Three days?" _Sonic felt a strong push impact his shoulder, knocking him aside. Regaining his balance, he saw Tatl, right in front of the Mask Salesman. Hands firmly placed on her hips, she yelled, "What do you _mean, _'we have to find your mask in three days?' What's so important that you can't even be bothered to find it yourself?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot elaborate on those matters." He looked back at Sonic and smiled brightly once more. "How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time here is up...

"Well, I guess I can do that," Sonic said, walking up to Tatl.

"_What?_" Tatl yelled, looking down at Sonic. "Are you_ kidding_ me, man?"

"Yes, you two will be just fine." He trudged over to the pair. Resting his hands on their small shoulders, he looked down at them, still grinning from ear to ear. "I see you two are young and have tremendous courage. I'm certain you'll be able to find it right away. Just have faith and you'll pull through."

"Faith…?" Sonic muttered.

Folding his arms, the Mask Salesman said, "Well then, I am counting on you two. I wish you two the best of luck."

"Okay…" Sonic saw a yellow arm wrap around his shoulders. Turning his head, he saw Tatl, looking at the Salesman while sporting an exaggerated grin on her face. "Right, uh, see you in three days!" She leaned her head towards Sonic's and muttered, "Let's get _out_ of here already…!"

"Farewell," the Mask Salesman said, waving them off. "Remember: _have faith_…"

Nodding, Sonic and Tatl turned around and made their way back up the flight of stairs and walked through the double doors. As they walked on, Sonic looked to his sides and eyed one of the doors. It was much thicker than it appeared. After a second, they were outside.

Standing before them was the center hub of what appeared to be part of a relatively large town. The morning sun shined high above the crowded town, bathing everyone in its morning glow.

Sonic looked back and gasped at the sight that befell him. Behind the duo stood the Clock Tower; a stone structure of titanic size, it towered over the other structures in the square. Near the top, the clock face itself ticked about. Unlike the clocks Sonic was used to seeing, the gigantic clock had no hands in sight; instead, an outer ring that slowly turned around a huge emblem, painted in flamboyant colors and symbols.

_"Wow…"_

A bright smile grew on his face. _Maybe this new world isn't so bad,_ he thought. It seems sound as far as technology is concerned. It's no Spagonia - far from it, actually - it looked lovely nonetheless. As he stood there, savoring the scenery and general feel, he looked higher into the sky. As he looked further, his joy was soon was soon replaced with horror.

_What the…?_

Smack dab in the middle of the sky was a sight that took him by surprise: the moon. Gray as lifeless as the moon from his world, it was a huge sight to behold in the early daytime sky. Unlike the moon from his world, the moon of Termina appeared a lot larger, almost as large as a beachball from his viewpoint. What left him speechless wasn't its size, but rather its _face._

Huge, sunken eyes looked back down on him with the same sunset tone as the eyes on the Skull Kid's mask, even having the same exact pinprick pupils. A long, pointy nose with craters that resembled actual nostrils lined the center of its face like a pyramid amidst a huge desert. It bore a crazed, toothy grin, as if it wants to devour everything in its sight.

As he looked on at the psychotic celestial body, a sense of dread welled up in his body. Why was the moon so big in this world? Was it going to fall? Just as he began to ponder further, he heard a loud groan from behind.

"He gives me the creeps!" Tatl hovered in front of Sonic and shuddered. "That mask salesman was the-"

She looked back and noticed Sonic staring at her, eyebrow raised. Her cheeks flushing a bright red tone, she uttered an awkward giggle and scratched her head. "Oh, sorry, just thinking aloud."

"Uh-huh…?" Sonic muttered.

"Seriously, though," she continued, "that weirdo _honestly _expects us, an injured fairy and a hedgehog-turned-deku scrub, to find his stupid mask in only three days, Dek. _Three days._ Think about it: even if we never take a single nap, that still leaves us with a measly _seventy-two hours_ to search this whole town for him! Talk about _demanding_!"

"No kidding," Sonic replied, looking around in wonder. "How are we going to find that Skull Kid and get that mask and my "precious item" back in such a short time, especially when I'm stuck like this?"

"Well, it's not like he's going to just give them to us or anything like that. In fact, you know what?" She started to flutter past him. "Forget that weirdo - _we're_ gonna pay Lady Venus a visit!"

"'Lady Venus'…?" He looked back to Tatl. "What the heck's a 'Lady Venus'?"

"'What's a Lady Venus?'" She let out a sigh and put her hand to her face, shaking her head in disappointment. "_Look_, you wanna find out where the Skull Kid is, _don't you?_"

Sonic stared at her, eyebrows raised. "Of course I do."

"You wanna turn back to your normal form, _don't you?_"

"Well, duh." Sonic crossed his arms and nodded. "If it even _exists_ to begin with, how will this 'Lady Venus' help us?"

"Lady Venus will know what the Skull Kid's up to." She put her hand on her hip and smirked. "As the _Great Fairy, _she watches over _everything_ that goes on here in this town. In fact, seven centuries ago, she even _made _this town!"

"Wait, you mean she's-"

"Yep - older than _this very town._"

Sonic put his hand to his chin and stroked it. Hearing this left Sonic a bit more relieved. Perhaps this "Great Fairy" can help with his Deku problem. He still wanted to see if she exists, though. "Okay, Tatl, this Lady Venus, you said she's a 'Great Fairy,' right?" he asked. "Is a 'Great Fairy' supposed to be, like, a guardian god of sorts?"

"_Well_… she's not _exactly_ a deity, but she's _still_ pretty damn powerful!" She floated over and leaned over to his ear. "And just between you and me, the Skull Kid is _no match_ against her might! If there's anyone who could help us, it would be her!"

"Really, now?"

"Yep. In her creation of this town, she fought an _entire army_ of near-invincible entities all by herself and _won without a single scratch_."

"Well, that leaves me assured," Sonic muttered. Part of him wanted to believe that story - she did sound rather badass - yet another part just didn't want to buy. From the way Tatl told it, it sounded more like an embellishment than anything. As boastful as he tended to be, he was never one to really go gushy over people's accomplishments. Still, he should at least go see her to see if any of Tatl's words were true.

"Okay," he said, "where does this 'Lady Venus' reside, then? Does she live anywhere in town nowadays?"

"Of course she does! She lives near the North Gate in her shrine - the most _beautiful_ place in Termina."

"'North Gate'?" Sonic said, scratching his head. "Okay, where's _that?_"

She put her hand to her face and sighed. "Look, just follow me, okay? I'll take you there myself; just don't expect me to give you a tour of this place, though!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's g-"

Just as he started to walk towards Tatl, a loud bark and growl rang out from behind. Sonic looked back and gasped. His huge yellow eyes widened as he found himself face-to-face with a large dog. The dog was covered head to toe in long, shaggy, gray fur; only its feet were visible from the furry underside. Had he'd been in his regular form, the dog would've been no taller than at his waist-height; in his current Deku form, however, the dog appeared much larger. It growled at him, showcasing its sharp canines; a long string of drool dribbled out of its mouth, reverberating in the breeze by the canine's growling.

"Um, _Tatl_..." Sonic glanced back at the fairy. "Why is this dog looking at me like that?"

"Oops." Tatl gasped. "Did I forget to mention that dog right there _really_ doesn't like Deku Scrubs, _especially_ the small ones?"

Sonic glared at her. "And you couldn't tell me this earlier, _why_?"

Looking back at the peeved canine, Sonic backed away from it, trying to avoid making any sudden movements.

"Good doggy," he whimpered, hands out in front. "Stay there, doggy. Stay... _Stay_... Don't hurt the little Deku Scr-"

Suddenly, the dog lunged forward at him, claws first. Sonic quickly jumped out of the way, sending the dog flying right into the doors of the Clock Tower. Before the dog could recover from its crash, he turned and took off as fast as his little legs could carry him.

"Help!" he screamed, looking everywhere around him.

He ran into the massive crowd of people, dodging and pushing them aside as he zoomed along. Some people were shocked, others nearly pushed him aside. Stopping in the middle of the crowd, he looked around trying to find anything he can hide. All around him were crowded bazaars and curio stands, people crowding them by the dozens. As he gazed at the various bits of scenery, his heart raced faster and faster - he knew that the moment the mutt recovered, he would after his blood. After looking from side to side, he spotted an empty stand. Dashing as fast as he could, he leaped and dove right under the stand.

In the cover of the stand, he crouched in fetal position, knees to his face. He laid there in wait, trembling in silence. As he counted the moments he was in there, he heard a loud growl right in front of him.

"Aw, no..." Sonic muttered, backing away from the sound.

He saw the cloth bump forward a bit, followed by sniffing sounds. He held his breath, careful not to make a sound. Before long, he heard a masculine voice yell out from behind him.

"Shoo, you mutt! Beat it! Scram!"

He heard a couple loud smacks and whimpers. Before Sonic could question what just happened, the cloth behind him started to squirm and rise. Poking in was the face of a man of a reasonable girth. The man's face twisted into a frown at seeing Sonic.

"What are doing in here, kid?" the man asked. "Come on, get out of here and find your parents!"

Nodding, he dashed out from under the stand and took off towards the Clock Tower. He ran up along the huge, wooden ramps going up the left side of the enormous Clock Tower, careful not to stumble and fall. As he ran faster and faster, he suddenly heard a loud growl rang out from behind.

He glanced back and gasped. The hound, teeth bared like a possessed wolf, was back on his tail.

"Dang, these legs are too weak!" Sonic shouted, gasping after every word. "I can't outrun him!"

Running up to the top of the ramp, Sonic then found himself running up to a large flight of stairs leading to a different section of the town. In his blind run from the pursuing canine, his foot got caught in one of the holes on the steps. With one quick motion, he tripped and fell face-first right onto the stone stairway.

Uttering a loud scream, he grabbed his snout and whimpered. In the throes of his pain, he heard loud footsteps approach him. As it grew closer, it grew louder, before finally coming to a stop. He opened his eyes and saw the pooch, stopped right in front of him. The crazed canine growled as it posed itself for the attack. Putting his hands over his head, Sonic closed his eyes, prepared for the inevitable mauling from the enraged dog. Just as he heard it lunge at him, he heard a sharp yelp. What followed were a ring and a voice that was now all too familiar to him…

"Leave the deku alone!"

Eyes shot open, Sonic looked up and saw Tatl fluttering right over him and the dog, gripping tightly on the dog's tail. She glared down at the canine, a visible frown on her face. Held down in her grasp, the dog couldn't move an inch.

With one powerful strike, she struck the dog in the back with her good leg. The canine jumped away from the fairy and, uttering a loud yelp, it ran down the stairs and off into the square as fast as it could.

Sonic just sat at the steps, utterly speechless by what just transpired. Tatl saved him? Tatl - the temperamental fairy girl who tried to beat him halfway to death not too long ago, _twice_ - actually saved _him_? Before Sonic could try to figure out what went on, Tatl walked up to him and held out her hand.

"C'mon, get up!" she said sternly, looking down at Sonic. Her frown remained on her face.

"Um..." Sonic reached out and grabbed her hand, hoisting himself up. Brushing himself off, he looked up to her and smiled. "Thanks for that save, Tatl."

"Yeah, sure..." She started to take off up the stairs. "C'mon, let's stop wasting time and see the Great Fairy already!"

Sonic nodded, following her up the long and wide flight of stairs. As he walked, he looked up to the buildings around him and sighed. _Perhaps,_ he thought, _she isn't such a jerk, after all…_

* * *

_Author's Note__:_ And with that, Chapter 3 has come to a close.

See? Tatl isn't quite as big a jerk as she appears... okay, she's still a jerk, but still.

Anyway, how is the story so far? Did you find this chapter enjoyable? Boring? If you have any questions or problems with this story, post your concerns as a review or send me a private message. Any constructive feedback is, and will always be, much appreciated.


	4. The Plight of the Great Fairy

"_He__re we are, Dek__!"_

Sonic's eyes grew wider as he looked around. Standing before his diminutive figure was a huge field of grass, bushes and trees that stretched as far as the eye can see. Odd stone sculptures similar to those from the jungle dotted the ground here and there, giving it an almost ancient look. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the bazaar from before, one could practically hear a pin drop in this park. Nobody here seemed to be in a rush; rather, people strolled about down the various dirt paths running through the park, some holding hands and chatting away. Some of the townsfolk resembled the humans from his native world; others bore a strange resemblance to Tatl, with brightly colored skin and wings. Small children, human and fairy alike, ran around the park without a care in the world, climbing on the various statues and playing in the small playground.

"Ya like it?" Resting her arm on Sonic's shoulder, Tatl flashed him a toothy smirk. "See that?" She stretched her arm out wide in front of them. "This park makes up a _good_ chunk of North Clock Town. Ain't it pretty, or what?"

"I see..." Sonic muttered.

She clasped her hands together, sighing. "Oh, I remember the time when Tael and I would fool around in this park, climbing the trees and playing in the playground. From sunrise to sunset, that's how we did things. Sure do miss those days... "

"Hmm." The various structures dotting the park vaguely reminded him of a similar park from back home. A small smile appeared on his face as he nodded. "Well, I guess this place doesn't look half bad."

"_Doesn't look half bad?_" Snapped out of her daydream, Tatl glared down at the wayward plant. "Are you _on_ something, Dek?" She grabbed his head and forced it forward, nearly knocking him off his feet. "Look at that! _Look at that!_ You're telling me this _gorgeous_ park looks _boring_ to you?"

"Hey, let go!" He shook himself out of her grasp. Shaking his head a bit, he yelled, "You're putting words in my mouth! I didn't say this park looked _bad_; all I was saying was that I've honestly seen better-looking locales. Central Park from Empire City, for example, would make this park look like a joke!"

Tatl growled, setting Sonic on edge. "Oh, you just _had_ to kill my good mood, didn't you? One little diversion from my pain, and you just _had_ to kill it!"

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Well, sorry for not caring as much about the scenery. Besides," Sonic pointed at her, "shouldn't we be doing something about that foot of yours?"

Tatl rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." She grabbed his hand and dragged him along with her. "C'mon! We got a Great Fairy to see!"

"Lead the way, my lady," Sonic muttered, rolling his eyes.

As a couple minutes elapsed, they walked through the vast park, taking in the beautiful scenery as they passed. As he walked, he noticed the walls beyond the trees. Unlike the walls of the previous area of town, they appeared gray and drab, as if no one bothered to paint them. Vines and moss grew along the cracks and crevices, giving them a foresty appearance fitting of the town area.

He noticed a prancing man wearing green clothes dancing about on the field next to the gate entrance. It was guarded by a tall man decked in armor. He carried a large spear tipped with a serrated blade. He looked as if prepared to deal with anyone who should dare attempt to get in the town unauthorized.

A bit further away from the men, Sonic saw a small boy alone in the field. He was dressed in a white shirt and blue shorts, with a red cloth tied to his head. Armed with a yellow stick with holes, he was shooting at a purple balloon hovering high above him. As the boy shot at the balloon, Sonic noticed little flashes of light burst on the balloon; the balloon appeared undamaged, as if it was made of a thick rubbery plastic. Whatever the boy was shooting at the balloon with his pea shooter, it clearly wasn't working. Sonic shook his head and moved on.

As they walked through the huge park, he glanced over at Tatl, who held her injured foot in place with her hands. He followed her every movement, watching for sudden movements. Her delicate, buglike wings gave off light, almost silent noises with every flap. The faint yellow glow emanating off her pearly white skin lit the shaded walkway. Her creamy-white hair further enhanced it by its uncanny shine. Elvish ears, fitted with bell-shaped earrings, gave her face an oddly quirky look to it. Her choice of clothing - a sleeveless dress with a skirt like the petals of a sunflower - only served to emphasize her figure.

"So..." Sonic said, flexing his fingers. A few minutes has passed since the fairy girl's outburst. He paused, making sure not to anger her again, before saying, "Humor me here: what exactly _is _this 'Lady Venus', Tatl?"

"Pardon?" she replied. Her tone took on her usual high-pitched and airiness again.

"That 'Lady Venus' person you were talking about back at the Clock Tower," he clarified. "Can she _really_ help us with finding Skull Kid and getting back to normal?"

"Oh, _her_. Well..." She scratched her head, muttering to herself. "Well, officially, she's the Great Fairy of Magic." She crossed her arms over her chest. "She's the latest descendant in the long lineage of the Great Fairies. As such, she's the leader of _all_ fairies in this world!"

"So, there _are_ more fairies besides you and your brother?" asked Sonic.

Tatl gasped. "Of _course_ there are more fairies besides me, you idiot! Didn't you see any in the park and the baza-" She paused, and said, scratching her head, "Oh, right, _the dog..._"

Sonic nodded, angered by Tatl's ignorance.

"Anyway," she continued, "to my knowledge, there are two main groups of fairies in this world. How about we just call them "healing fairies" and "learning fairies" for simplicity's sake, okay?"

Sonic nodded. "Go on."

"Well, you'll usually see healing fairies working in shamanistic jobs and the like, for you see, they have _specially_ honed, well, healing capabilities. That kinda gives them the ability to use the _really good _healing spells like, say, body part regeneration."

"Really?" Sonic said, raising his eyebrow.

"Yep - lose a body part, they can grow it back. Now, whether or not it can be done _painlessly_, I don't know, and frankly, I'm _not _up for finding out. At any rate, nothing short of outright death will prevent a person from being recovered by a healing fairy."

"Alright, so you say healing fairies usually work in shamanistic jobs," Sonic said, turning a corner down the dirt pathway. "What about those who prefer a more... _free_ life, if you catch my drift?"

"Oh, you mean the_ nomadic_ types? They usually roam across the lands on some altruistic journey, healing any weary fellow travelers they just happen to come across for whatever reason."

"Okay, so what kind of fairy are you?"

"Me?" She pointed at her chest. "I'm what you'd call a learning fairy. We go to various places, gathering information on stuff. You see those huge libraries around here?"

Sonic raised his eyebrow. "There are libraries here?"

"Of course! They're mainly staffed by learning fairies, too!"

"I see... So, can you do magic spells? You know, with the collecting bits of information and all, it wouldn't be too big a leap to say you can do some tricks, right?"

"_All_ fairies can perform magic spells, Dek. It's just that some of the more powerful spells can only be handled by a healing fairy without killing themselves. But enough about that right now, we're here!"

At the end of the dirt pathway, they stood at the base of a massive, seashell-shaped building, easily the biggest structure in the area. A soft orange light emanated from its polished surface, giving it a wavy appearance in the morning sunlight, as if it was erected smack dab in the middle of a heat wave. Right above the door to the building hung a white statue of a winged humanoid being, hands cupped in front of its chest.

"Ah..." Tatl sighed, breathing in the air of her surroundings. "Here we are, Dek."

"This is it?" Sonic asked, looking around with a look of disappointment. "A seashell house? Can't say I'm pretty impressed, Tatl."

"The Fairy Fountain's _in_ the building, dummy." She quickly took off up the flight of stairs. Landing lightly on her good foot, she leaned forward a bit and knocked on the door. With a single knock, the door creaked open without a fuss. "Huh?"

"Hey, what's up?" Sonic asked, walking up the stairs while holding on the handrail. As he made it to the top, he saw Tatl hovering in place, arms crossed over her chest. She bore a small frown on her face.

"The door's unlocked," Tatl murmured, eying the door. "It's..." She reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a small pocket watch. Peering down at it, she continued, "... only eight in the morning. She _never_ unlocks the door this early."

"Perhaps she forgot to lock it?"

After a few seconds of silence, Tatl said, "Hey, um, can you stay here for a sec?" With a simple push, Tatl opened the door and flew into the building.

And so, Sonic waited. He just stood there, arms crossed, and tapping his feet against the ground. Thirty seconds passed; no response. Sixty seconds; still no response. After a few more seconds in silence, he shook his head, muttering, "I hope she's alri-"

Just then, a loud shriek rang out from inside.

_Whoa!_

Sonic made an about face and took off into the building. As he ran down the barely-lit hallway, he heard a faint whimper grow louder with every step he made. After a few seconds, he stopped and gasped at the sight that beheld him.

Inside the seashell building stood a massive, sparkling white fountain. A slight chill filled the air as fresh, sparkling clean water flowed into the building from various holes on the ceiling and floor. The seemingly endless flow of water formed a large pool in the center of the fountain. Fourteen marble columns towered over the sparkling fountain, firmly held in place by the stone ceiling. A thick, blue, glass-like structure surrounded the perimeter of the fountain, forming a translucent barrier with two large openings opposite each other, allowing entry and exit to and from the fountain.

_What the heck happened here?_

Looking around the fountain, searching for the source of the cries, he saw a small trail of a greenish liquid going through the otherwise clean pool, leading to another sea-shell door on the other side of the fountain.

"Great," he muttered, looking down at the pool before. "Now, how am I gonna through this?"

Looking around the pool, he saw that it was completely filled to the wall. There was no way he could just sidle along the edge without being up to his head in water. He breathed a small sigh.

_Guess I have no choice__..._

With a nod, he quickly dashed through the water as fast as he could. As he slugged his way through, he started to sink lower in the pool, to where his wooden head barely poked out of the water. Chills went down his spine as the water slowly rose to the back of his head. In just a couple seconds, the chill slowly receded as he made his way out of the water. With one final leap, he jumped out of the water, right in front of the seashell door.

Like the front door into the building, the door itself was left slightly ajar, with splotches of the greenish liquid covering the doorknob. He gave it a little push, and he soon uncovered a room with a unique staircase going up its left side. Each step, carved in a seashell shape, was wider than the last, leading up to an open doorway. Loud calls of sobbing rang out from the doorway. It had a light, airy sound to it that made it sound more haunting in the dark stairway.

"Hey, Tatl!" he yelled, "is everything alright up there?"

"_Alright?_" Her voice was cracked up, almost as if in between broken gasps. "Dek, get in here,_ NOW!_"

Alarmed by the tone of her voice, he hopped up the stairs as fast as he could. What greeted him at the doorway nearly made him relieve himself of his earlier meal.

Tatl sat in the center of what appeared to be a small pool, cradling the head of another figure in her arms. The figure lying on her lap resembled that of a pale orange-haired woman. She bore a large, gaping wound in her chest that ran down her entire torso. Greenish, blood-like liquid oozed from the wound, dripping into the pool below. Tatl, too, was covered in the green blood, shaking it everywhere as she rocked back and forth.

_What the heck happened in here…_ Sonic thought, eying the savage scene.

"Why, Lady Venus," Tatl muttered, trying to hold back her tears as hard as she could, "Why did this happen to you? Why? _Why...?_"

The woman opened her eyes and gazed up at Tatl. The woman's eyes, pale and jaundiced, looked as lifeless as the rest of her. "Tatl..." she groaned, uttering a quiet whimper, "is that you?"

Tatl nodded. "Yes, mom..." As hard as she tried not to, tears started to roll down her cheeks, dripping into the water beside them. "What happened to you?"

"M-my..." The wounded fairy lifted her arm as high as she could - barely above her torso - and pointed towards the gaping wound in her chest. "H-heart container..."

"_What?_" Tatl yelled, causing Sonic to jump back a bit. "Who _did_ this to you?"

The mortally injured fairy closed her eyes, uttering, "Skull... Kid... "

Sonic and Tatl both let out a gasp that could ring through the entire building. Sonic clenched his fists, ready to strike anything near him. Before he could, however, he heard a weak voice sound out.

"Young deku scrub..."

Sonic snapped to attention and saw the mortally wounded fairy supported by Tatl to sit upright. Long, feathery wings draped down from her back, partially obscuring Tatl.

"Please..." she uttered, weakly shaking her arm, "come closer..."

Sonic finally walked over to the fountain and slowly made his way to the fairies. Stopping just in front of the Great Fairy, he knelt down on his knee. "Yes, miss?" he said, worriment coursing through his body.

"D-did you arrive here with Tatl?" she asked.

Sonic nodded. "Yes."

She narrowed her jaundiced eyes. "Y-you're hurt..." she muttered. "What happened to you?"

"Um..." Sonic darted his eyes back and forth. Part of him wanted to tell her what exactly got him hurt in the first place. Yet, knowing her current critical condition, he didn't want to risk causing her to react in such a way that would only do more harm to her. Thinking it over for a second, he squeaked, "I... got into a little scuffle on the way here. It's no big deal, really, ma'am."

"Please... let me help you..." She lifted her arm as high as she could, muttering, "Close your eyes..."

Sonic closed his eyes, as he was told. In just a couple seconds, he felt a cold object lightly touching his forehead. Before he could utter a word, waves of warmth began to flow in from his forehead. It coursed throughout his body, from the tips of his thorns to the very ends of his extremities. As the warmth flowed through, he could feel the pain from his injuries start to shrink, bit by bit, before finally subsiding. His muscles relaxed as his bones straightened. A minute in, the warmth started to disperse. After a couple seconds, the flow of warmth finally ceased.

"Y-you may open them now..."

Sonic opened his eyes and checked his body over. The bruises, scratches and other bits of injuries he accumulated on the way to the fountain completely vanished. Before he could question what happened to him, it struck him: in spite of her condition, she has healed his wounds. "Thanks."

She smiled weakly. "I-I'm just glad you two are okay..."

"Is there any way we can help you?" Tatl asked.

The fairy woman looked up at the ceiling and nodded. "Please," she uttered, "you have to find my heart container and bring it here to me..."

"What will happen if we don't?" Sonic asked.

The fairy woman closed her eyes. "My mortality will be rendered forfeit..." A single tear dripped from her closed eyes onto the water below.

"Don't worry, Lady Venus." Laying Venus down as lightly as possible, Tatl slowly got up and looked down at her wounded superior. "We'll _find_ that heart container!" She flapped her wings and started to lift herself up in the air. She looked at Sonic and yelled, "Let's go, Dek!"

Sonic nodded. "Got it."

In a flash, Sonic, with Tatl following close behind, took off for the door. Before they could run out, Venus's voice rang out again.

"Please hurry..." she uttered, "I don't know how much time I have left..."

Back outside, the sun just barely began to rise above the huge buildings surrounding them, raining down sunshine upon the quiet park of North Clock Town. As they walked down the dirt pathway through the park, the plant and fairy barely made a peep, keeping to their own thoughts for the most part. Sonic scuttled along the stone ground, turning his eyes back and forth around him. Tatl walked alongside him, arms crossed over her chest, and let out a sigh.

Sonic turned to her and noticed the frown on her face. "Um, Tatl…?" he started, careful not to incite her. Now, of all times, was not the time to anger for whatever reason.

"What do you want?" she asked, glancing down at him. Her eyes appeared faint and misty, as if she was ready to cry at any given moment.

"I probably shouldn't say this," he continued, "but is there anything wrong? Your foot's alright?"

She looked down at her foot. To Sonic's surprise, not a single spot of blood was on the bright yellow stocking; it appeared as if it was never crushed in the first place. "Yeah, my foot's fine. Lady Vee healed me up, too. It's just..." She sighed and shook her head. "I just can't believe it, Dek. How did the Skull Kid manage to defeat the Great Fairy and take her Heart Container like that? I mean, okay, I admit, he was always something of a troublemaker, but _this?_ This is too far, _even for him_!"

"Hey," Sonic said, stroking his chin. "I bet it's that mask that made him able to shatter the Great Fairy."

"The mask?" Tatl scoffed, closing her eyes a bit. "Don't be ridiculous, kid! You honestly think a _mask_ would give him the means to wound the _Great Fairy_? That's just... well, _ridiculous_!"

"Well, um, mind me asking, but what _is_ a heart container?" Sonic asked. "Why did Venus say that her life would be 'forfeit' if she doesn't get it back?"

Tatl tilted her back, letting out a deep sigh. His muscles tensing up, Sonic held out his arms in protection. "I mean, if it's the wrong time to ask, I could just shut u-"

"No, kid, I'm just…" Tatl let out a loud yawn. "a little tired, is all. Anyway, a Heart Container is like… our soul, I guess."

"You mean, like a place where your heart rests in?"

"A _what_?" She shook her head and continued, "No, no, a heart container is, like, a physical form of a soul for us. As such, we _literally _can't live without it for more than a few minutes, tops."

"Oh, I think I get it now," Sonic said, nodding.

"Here's the thing, though," she continued, "heart containers of particularly powerful beings like her can gain some sort of 'self-awareness' and can even take on their _own _separate forms. Lady Venus calls those things 'stray fairies', I guess, for their being 'strayed' from their original bodies."

Sonic stared at her. "How do you _know_ all of this?"

"Lady Vee's my mom, Dek. Ever since I was just a little pixie, she always teaches me about these sorts of things. She was a learning fairy herself in her younger days."

"I see..."

"Good, now let's look for that heart container before it's too late."

Walking down the long flight of stairs, they found themselves standing in front of the back of the Clock Tower. The sunlight began to shine past the tower, high over the town. The sounds familiar to Sonic as something like construction noise filled the sky. The noise sent chills down Sonic's spine. It sounded so familiar, yet the world itself looked so foreign. Looking at the walls around him, he noticed a few details in the architecture that he only glanced at earlier. Splotches of red and blue paints covered the stone walls with designs vaguely resembling the sun and moon images on his medals.

"Okay," Sonic said, crossing his arms. "Where should we start?"

Tatl placed her hand on her chin and stroked it. "Okay, let's check the Bazaar first. Lady Vee always likes to shop there whenever she has some free time. Let's go by the tower an-"

"Yeah," Sonic interrupted, "there's one problem with your plan: that scrub-hating' dog, remember?"

"Oh, right," Tatl said, snapping her fingers. "Fine, we'll just have to get there through West Clock Town."

"West Clock Town?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah, it's like the main commercial hub of this town. Might as well ask some of the folks here if they've seen her heart contain-"

"Hey, move aside!"

Sonic looked back and saw a hulking man donned in a blue vest, shoes and purple pants carrying a huge plank of wood on his shoulders. His hair, curly and dirt-brown, looked vaguely like horns.

"Well, come on! I haven't got all day!" he yelled.

"Oh, sorry." Sonic quickly moved to the side. Just as the man started to move past, Tatl flew in front of him, holding out her hands.

"Excuse me, sir," Tatl said in a mildly cutesy voice, "but have you seen a heart container around here?"

"Nope," the man replied flatly, raising his eyebrow, "Haven't seen anythin' like that! Now, can you go please move already?"

"Oh, okay. Sorry for bugging you, sir." Just after the man left earshot, Tatl whispered to Sonic, "Damn, this is gonna be tougher than I thought."

"Hey," Sonic suggested, holding up his hand, "why don't we split up?"

"Ah, good idea," she replied, snapping her fingers. "_You'll-" _she said, pointing towards Sonic_,_ "search West Clock Town, and _I'll-"_ she pointed to herself, "search East Clock Town."

"Yeah, and we'll meet up in the bazaar to see if we found anything!" Sonic finished.

"Good, now take this." Tatl reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a brown rolled-up parchment appeared in her hands.

Sonic took the parchment from her hands and unraveled. It had a colorfully detailed picture of a town area sketched on it, with labels of the buildings and the like here and there. "A map?" Sonic asked.

"It's so you don't get lost, duh!" She started to flutter in place, yelling, "Now let's hurry up and find that heart container!"

"Wait, you never told me what it-!"

With that, she took off in the same direction the man went and into a nearby tunnel.

"… Looks like."

Sonic rolled his eyes, and headed in the opposite direction, towards an entrance he hadn't tried. He walked down the ramp right of the Clock Tower, admiring the mural of the moon on the way down. As he walked, the construction noise grew. Standing at the base of the incline, he looked out onto the bazaar below.

At the center of the vast square, a huge group of construction workers were busy at work, building a large structure in the center of the square. It was a small wooden tower, decorated in many different colored banners and other materials. Atop of the structure, a worker was busy at work, nailing boards into the wood construct with a large hammer. Three others walked around the small tower, carrying various boards of different sizes, handing it up to the guy on the top, before going for another board.

He looked around and saw a flight of stairs leading up to an area of town.

"Well," he said, "Only one way to go..." With a nod, he worked his way up the stone flight of stairs towards the large plaza.

* * *

_Author's Note__:_ And with that, Chapter Four comes to a close. I apologize for the shorter-than-average chapter. Time constraints due to my schoolwork haven't exactly left me with as much free time as I used to have.

Anyway, how is the story so far? Did you find this chapter enjoyable? Boring? If you have any questions or problems with this story, post your concerns as a review or send me a private message. Any constructive feedback is, and will always be, much appreciated.


	5. Recovering Lady Venus

_So, this is West Clock Town..._

Ten minutes passed since Sonic and Tatl left the Fairy Fountain and its dying inhabitant. The western area of Clock Town was an enclosed area, jarringly contrasting the more open area of North Clock Town. The air was a lot less active than in the Northern Area, carrying an occasional light breeze. Several large buildings surrounded him with a large vacant area in the center, forming a small cul-de-sac of sorts. The art of the walls were livelier than that of North Clock Town, with various stylized symbols dotting the buildings here and there. The center of the cul-de-sac had a stylized diamond painted on.

Two women, clad in leotards of different colors, stood out in the center, performing various dance maneuvers to anyone passing by. Across from Sonic stood a huge gate leading out of the town, not unlike the one in North Clock Town. A guard, clad is similar armor similar to the one in the Northern Park, was posted nearby.

As Sonic made his way through the small plaza, he passed a young man who immediately walked out in front of him, holding out a strange device.

"Hi, there, little guy! You wanna buy this guitar? It's in perfect condition and everythin-"

"Sorry," Sonic interrupted, "but I'm kinda in a rush. I'll see into getting that whatchamacallit later, though."

The man quickly moved out of his way, allowing him to continue in response. He saw stairs leading down to another opening in the town walls. A few more buildings surrounded the stair pathway, with a large straw awning hanging high above it. Very few people milled about here, going on with their daily lives. As he made his way down the stone stairway, he saw a man standing near a large door, holding a sign that read:

_Clock Town Bank._

The stranger wore a green suit and tie, along with a pair of glasses. He looked over and waved over to him. "Hey there, little guy!"

"Um…" Sonic replied, suddenly in the spotlight. "Is there anything wrong, sir?"

"Won't you please deposit some Rupees?" the man said, holding out his hands clasped together

"Excuse me?" Sonic said, raising an eyebrow. "You have a bank?"

"Indeed, I do! Please, come right in!" The man turned around and opened the door, revealing the inside of the bank. As they stepped inside, Sonic looked around the room. It was a somewhat big room, filled with equipment not unlike the banks from his world. Bits of dust lingered in the air, coupled with a vaguely funky taste to it. He covered his mouth, seeing as he couldn't actually close it on its own.

"Hm," Sonic muttered, walking to a nearby table. Running his finger across the table, he saw traces of dirt on it. It appeared that the table hadn't been used in a while. "Why is this place so... empty and dusty?" he said, looking over to the suited man. "Wouldn't a place like this be busy and crowded?"

"Normally, especially at this time of the year it _would_ be crowded and busy, but nowadays..." The Banker let out a deep sigh. "Even if people have money, they don't deposit any here for some strange reason. That, coupled with the whole "rumor" about the moon apparently falling that is scaring away any potential clients."

"What?" Sonic shouted, eyebrows raised. "The _moon_ is falling?"

"It's part of some silly rumor going around town," the man said, shrugging his shoulders. "Personally, I don't believe in that nonsense. I mean, the _moon_ falling? Come _on_ now..."

"Uh-huh..." Sonic looked back towards the door. As he looked, an image of the Moon flashed before his eyes. Imagining the Moon with its psychotic smile sent chills down his spine.

"So," The Banker continued, clapping his hands. "For a limited time, I'll give you a special gift based on how much money you deposit here. For example, if you deposit two hundred Rupees, you'll get a wallet that can hold a _lot_ of Rupees."

"Well, I do need a new wallet since mine's all tattered up." Sonic reached into his bag and pulled out a small pouch. Tears and holes dotted the wallet, held together only by paperclips and staples.

The Banker winced. "Wow, what did you _do_ to that, little guy?"

"It's been through a lot of stuff, alright?" Sonic rolled his eyes and grunted.

"All right... so!" The Banker sat behind the Teller's Desk and clasped his hands together. "How much will you deposit, little guy?"

"Uh..." He reached into the pouch and pulled out a ring. The ring, bright yellow in color, spun around in his open palm. It glow a bright yellow aura and emitted a quiet whistling sound. "Do you accept Rings here?"

The Banker stared at him blankly. "_Rings_? You're... joking, right?"

"Well," Sonic said, looking around before focusing back on the Banker, "Do you? Huh?"

The Banker let out a huge sigh and shook his head. "No, little guy." He reached down and pulled out a green jewel. At first glance, it looked almost exactly like a shard of the Master Emerald without the shine. "We use rupees here, not those... yellow doughnut thingies you called 'rings'."

Sonic crossed his arms. "Well, can you tell me what the price value of those...'Rupee' things is?"

"Allow me to explain." The Banker reached down and pulled out two more jewels, one blue and one red. "This green rupee is worth one "rupee". The blue rupee right here is worth five green rupees. A red one equals twenty and a purple one is worth fifty."

"Oh, now I get it," Sonic replied with a nod. Sonic unstrapped his bag from his wooden back. Setting it down on the hard wood floor, he reached in and pulled out a big purple jewel. It was much like the green rupee in shape, but a bit bigger in size. "Is this one of the purple rupees?"

"Hm?" The Banker leaned forward, putting his hand over his eyes. "Where did you managed to find _that_, little guy?"

"Oh, this?" Sonic shrugged his shoulders, scratching his head. "I found it in some graveyard back in my w-" Sonic paused, before correcting, "Where I came from."

"Ah!" The Banker snapped his fingers. "So _that_ explains it! You're not from here!"

"Yeah, you can say that..." Putting his Ring Pouch back in, Sonic strapped his bag back onto his back and held out his purple rupee. "I guess I'll deposit fifty rupees for now."

"That's it?" The Banker said, raising an eyebrow. "That really isn't much of anything, but if you say so!" The Banker grabbed the purple rupee and set it down on the desk beside him. Reaching down, he pulled out a paper, a feather and a small black bottle. "So," he said, opening the bottle and dipping the tip of the feather in it, "What's your name, little guy?"

"I'm Sonic." He crossed his arms and nodded. "Sonic the... uh, Deku Scrub."

"Hmm... got it," The Banker said, writing his names down. "I won't forget your deposit. Just to make sure," he reached down and pulled out a small stamper. "Let me stamp you with my special ink."

"What?" Sonic backed away from the desk. "You're going to _stamp_ me?"

"Relax, little guy. It doesn't leave any marks, and it's not going to hurt. Just hold out your hand."

Sonic shrugged to each other and held out their hands. The Banker leaned forward and "stamped" him with it. "There! Now I'll know you when I see you!"

"Um, thank you," Sonic said, nodding.

"You're welcome, little guy!" The Banker waved his hand. "Come back when you have some more rupees! Don't forget about that special prize!"

"Right, I'll see you later." And with that, Sonic left the Clock Town Bank.

A few minutes later, he was back in South Clock Town. The morning sun shined high above the crowded town, bathing everyone in its morning glow. Large crowds of people walked on by, generally going about their everyday lives. Children and animals played around in the square, hiding behind the stands in the vast bazaar and playing in the pools of waters. The sweet calls of birds rang out amidst the chatter in the town. Some of the dogs barked at the birds, adding to the general noisiness of the area.

There, he walked past the bazaars and stands, glancing at the various stuff and people walking by. After walking through the crowd of people out into an open area, Sonic looked around and noticed a flight of stairs leading up to an entrance in the wall.

_I wonder where that leads to... _Sonic thought.

Looking around, he didn't see the Deku Scrub-hating dog anywhere nearby. Perhaps it has gone skulking about for victims elsewhere in the town. Just as he was about to walk back into the bazaar, heard a voice call out to him from behind.

_"Hey, Dek!"_

He looked back and saw Tatl, flying down from a nearby stairway leading to the east part of Town. Next to the stairway was what appeared to be a giant treasure chest with posters on its side.

"You saw the Heart Container?" she asked, coming to a stop right in front of him.

Sonic shook his head. "You?"

"Nope," Tatl replied, shaking her head. "Darn, there's _gotta_ be some place here we haven't checked yet!"

"Hmm..." Sonic looked back towards the small flight of stairs. "What does that lead to?" Sonic said, pointing to the flight of stairs.

"Well, _that_ goes to the Laundry Pool area of the town," Tatl replied, glancing at the stairs. "There, we wash our clothes and stuff in a man-made stream that flows through the place, hence the name."

"Gotcha. You think we should check there?"

"Why not?" Tatl shrugged her shoulders. "We've already checked everywhere else. Let's go."

"Right…"

They hurried up the small flight of steps, turned and walked down a narrow pathway to a small area in town.

It was a small area behind some of the buildings from South and West Clock Town. The small area was quiet due it being pretty much devoid of the hustle and bustle of the other town areas. As Tatl said, a small stream of water flowed through the center of the area. A small bench was off to the corner, right by a small bell next to the bridge. A narrow, stone bridge crossed over the water and to a path leading up to a door behind a building. A tree was off to the side by the stream, surrounded by flowers and tiny bushes. Right under the tree sat a small frog, hopping around in pursuit of a small butterfly.

Sonic hobbled over to the water's edge. He looked straight into his reflection, searching for anything that could be in the water. As he stared down into the blue water, something glowing was seen in the corner of his eye. He snapped his head around to see what it was, and saw a feminine figure drifting still under water, face down. She looked similar to the fairies he saw in North Clock Town: it had pale orange skin, an hourglass-figured body, long blonde hair, and huge bug-like wings growing out from her back. She gave off a faint aura that gave the water a vaguely darkened hue.

He let out a long squeal, trying to bring Tatl over. She flew to him, plopping down on her knees right beside him.

"What is it?" she snapped, looking rather annoyed. Sonic pointed to the fairy floating above the water. "Oh my gosh!" she gasped. "There she is! The Lady's heart container stray fairy!"

"Don't worry, I got it!" Sonic immediately started to reach in the water, before Tatl stopped him with a pull.

"No, you idiot!" she yelled. "You'll die!"

"What?"

She turned his head towards her, looking him sternly and directly in the eyes. "In case you haven't notice, deku scrubs are _wooden_ creatures! If you jump in there, you'll soak up water and sink in! You won't be able to get out!"

Sonic dropped his head and let out a small sigh. "Right..." He then turned to see the bridge. The fairy was _just_ close enough for him to grab her arm. If he could just lean down from the small dock just barely enough to grab the stray fairy's arms and pull her out of the water, she could have a chance to survive.

"Come on, we gotta drag her out of there!" Tatl said abruptly as Sonic tensed up for the plan. "Grab my waist!"

"What?" Sonic said quizzically, raising his eyebrow.

Tatl leaned forward, reaching her hands in the water. "Come on, hurry up!" she yelled, grabbing the stray fairy by her shoulders. "That is, unless _you_ want to do it and die!"

He quickly reached over and wrapped his arms around Tatl's waist, careful not to hit her wings. She felt unusually warm to the touch. He figured that either she was just getting over some fever, or fairies just have a higher body temperature in general.

"Alright," she stated, looking back at Sonic, "on the - ow, watch the wings! - count of three, we try to pull her out. Got it?"

Sonic gave a little nod, loosening his grip a little.

"One..."

"Two..."

"_Three!_"

With one mighty tug, they pulled the unconscious body of the stray fairy clear out of the manmade river, right on the grassy ground nearby. Sonic and Tatl rushed towards the downed fairy in an erratic manner. Tatl leaned down and put her ear to the fairy's bare chest. As he looked on, a growing sense of dread filled his body. Were they too late? Was Venus's doomed fate all but sealed?

After a few tense seconds of absolute silence, Tatl raised her head and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, she's still alive," she said reassuringly. "And just barely, at that!"

Almost immediately, the stray fairy shot up and started coughing up water, mixed with some traces of the greenish blood-like fluid.

"Great Fairy!"

Tatl quickly started to pat on the stray fairy's back, aiding her in relieving herself of the water. After a few seconds, the fairy stopped coughing up any more water, instead breathing deeply and raspy.

"Ugh..." the stray fairy moaned in a raspy voice, hands to her chest. "What... where am I?"

"You're in the Laundry Pool, ma'am," Tatl answered. "We just found you in that river a moment ago!"

"H-how did I..." She looked down at her hands with a puzzled look on her face. After a couple seconds, she muttered ominously, "No... it can't be!"

"Hey, is there anything wrong?" Sonic asked.

Her confused stare was instantly replaced with a horrified grimace. The stray fairy immediately got to her feet, almost as if her earlier predicament never happened, and started to pace around erratically.

"Please, Stray Vee, you have to relax!" Tatl pleaded, trying to get the erratic Stray Fairy to stay still. "You just woke up an-"

"Please," she uttered quickly, grabbing Tatl's hand, "you have to hear my plea, young ones! That masked Skull Kid... he was behind why I was found here!"

"We know," Sonic said. "We're here to return you to the Fairy Fountain."

The Stray Fairy let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Please, you two have to take me back to the Fountain! Hurry, before my host body is-!"

"We know, we know!" Tatl interrupted. "Let's go, and fast!"

"Right!"

Just as Sonic was ready to zoom out, the Stray Fairy yelled out, "Wait, young one!"

Sonic promptly halted in his tracks. Looking back, he replied, "What's the matter?"

"Instead of trying to fight our way through the crowd, therefore leaving my host body to a certain doom in the time wasted," she stated inquisitively, "we can just simply use Farore's Wind instead!"

"Fa-_what's_ Wind?" Sonic repeated, confused.

"Fa_rore's_ Wind, Dek," Tatl corrected, "It's a warp spell!"

"Yes," the Stray Fairy said, nodding. "Before the masked one kidnapped me, I left behind a warp point to be used when I was free from his clutches."

"Well, what are we _waiting_ for, then?" Sonic said impatiently. "Let's go before your host body is done in!"

"Ah, right!" the Stray Fairy said hurriedly. "Please, stand next to me."

With a nod, Sonic walked over to the fairies. "Alright," he said, "so how are you supposed to use the "Fararee's Wind" thing?"

"Fa_rore's_ Wind," the Stray Fairy corrected. "And don't worry, leave everything to me…" And with that, she closed her eyes.

Sonic stood at attention, afraid that she was going to fall over at any moment. Instead, a bright green light started to emanate from her right hand. Looking over to Tatl, he saw that she had her eyes closed as well.

Suddenly, in one quick moment, the Stray Fairy swung her arms high above her. As she held her arms high, she opened her hand, releasing a green orb of light. Its brightness rivaled that of the Sun, bathing everything in the Laundry Pool in its aura. Sonic held his hand over his eyes, shielding them from the abrupt glare of the sphere. The ball of light, once the size of the Stray Fairy's palm, quickly expanded to the size of his head. As the shining orb grew brighter, a huge column of green light rose up from under him, covering him and the fairies in its ethereal emanation.

"Cast down…" the Stray Fairy started. In one quick motion, she shot her eyes open and yelled, "_Farore's Wind!_"

The sphere of green light began to lower itself onto him, expanding faster and faster. Before Sonic knew it, he, along with the fairies, was standing in the center of the sphere. Inside the globe of green light, green lines of varying shades were speeding past each other alternately along the walls of the ball.

Sonic closed his eyes, waiting for the light show to just end. After a couple seconds, a loud screech rang out. Sonic promptly shot his eyes open, looking for the source of the momentary cacophony. To his astonishment, he was no longer in the Laundry Pool, but rather, right back at the steps in Lady Venus' sleeping chambers.

"B-but…" Sonic stammered, shaken by what just transpired. "H-how did we…?"

"It's called a _warp_spell for a reason, Dek!" Tatl said, rolling her eyes. "Now let's save the pointless gawking for later and save Venus already!"

As Sonic and the fairies made their way up the long flight of stairs to her resting platform, the body of Lady Venus slowly came into view. She appeared almost ghost-like, almost to the point where she nearly disappeared in the water. The pool of water she lay in appeared more like green slime than the fresh, clean water from the fountain downstairs. She uttered faint groans, staring up to the ceiling with pale yellow eyes.

"T-Tatl..." she groaned. "is that y-you?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Tatl said reassuringly. "We're here with the heart container stray fairy thing!"

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Sonic asked, looking down at the mortally injured Venus.

"I'll take care of everything," the Stray Fairy replied, nodding. "Can you please step aside for a moment?"

With a nod, they moved over to her sides. The Stray Fairy fluttered over to the decaying body of Venus, clasping her hands. "This will only take a few seconds."

Then, she held out her hands and began to chant in a language that Sonic couldn't quite understand, even in his Deku body. Some of the words sounded vaguely like they would be in the language he's used to, but the others were a completely indecipherable mystery to him. It carried an elegant, yet cryptic air to it that sent chills down his spine. Looking over to Tatl, he saw that she had an attentive look on her face, as if she was just as mystified as he was.

As the Stray Fairy chanted, the letter-like markings on her body started to glow, one by one. They each shone a bright orange light. The leaves and vines on the decaying body of the main Great Fairy body also start to glow an orange light. After a few seconds, the rest of the Stray Fairy's body was engulfed in the shine. The body of light that used to be the Stray Fairy stood prone in the air for a moment before hovering over to Venus' body.

"Hey, what is sh-?" Sonic started, and Tatl held him back with her hand.

"She'll be alright," Tatl replied. "Just watch."

As the body of light lowered down and touched Venus, she, too, became engulfed in its glow. Sonic held his hand over his eyes, shielding them from the light. After a few seconds of darkness, a bright yellow light flashed out, followed by a loud screech. When the light settled after a few seconds, Sonic looked back over to the light and gasped at the sight that beheld him.

_What the…?_

Right where the body of light once stood, a humanoid woman now floated in its place. To Sonic's immediate surprise, she was stark naked, with only lengths of vines and leaves shielding the more private parts of her body from view. Shimmering orange hair, tied in three huge ponytails, came down to just above her hips. The water below her was as clean as the water in the fountain, a far cry from the stagnant, blood-filled pool from before.

"L-Lady Venus, you're back to normal!"

Sonic looked back and saw Tatl bowing down before the floating woman. She was practically in tears, with her face flushed a bright red. It was clear to him that whatever feeling he was having towards the mysterious woman, it wasn't mutual on Tatl's part.

He just stood there, baffled by the sight of the woman hovering before him. Despite not having a single pair of wings like the other fairies, she was floating above the pool of water like it was second nature to her._ She_ is the Great Fairy? _She_ is Lady Venus?

The more he looked at her, the more mystified he felt by her peculiar beauty. He looked her over, noticing the various bruises and scars running along her shapely body. Unlike the other fairies he's seen, she was much bigger in size; she looked to be just barely taller than Dr. Eggman. Her face also appeared slightly more mature and wizened, rather than somewhat childish like Tatl and the other fairies. She had small pouty lips, a small button nose, and pierced elf ears with jeweled earrings. Her choice of clothing - or lack thereof - only served to emphasize her oddly alluring figure.

Just as he started to walk forward, almost compelled to touch the amber-haired woman, he felt a strong force holding him back.

"Hey!" He felt a sharp blow to the back of his head.

Sonic yelped, rubbing the back of his head. He turned back and saw Tatl, glaring back at him. "Hey, what the he-"

"_Bow down_, you idiot!" Tatl yelled. "Show the Great Fairy of Magic some respect!"

_Look who's talking about respect…_ He sighed and bowed down on his knees as well.

The fairy woman floated down to the pool, landing with a soft splash. After a couple seconds, she stepped out of the pond and walked down to the bowing pair. She gazed down at them with her piercing violet eyes. "You…" She leaned down towards him, bracing her forearms against her legs. Her voice, unlike Tatl's, was significantly deeper, yet almost melodious in tone. "Tatl, young deku scrub…"

"Yes?" Sonic mumbled.

"For returning my shattered body to normal…" The stern frown on her face was suddenly replaced with a gentle smile. The intensity of her eyes had subsided. "I owe you my eternal gratitude. Thank you."

"No problem?" Sonic got up and walked over to the older fairy. "Sorry if I sound rude, but are you _really_ the Great Fairy?"

She nodded. "Indeed, I am, young one. Venus Beryllia, the Great Fairy of Magic. I reign over all fairies of Termina as their queen."

"'_Beryllia?'_" Sonic looked over at Tatl, confused. "_She's_ yourmom?" Sonic gawked at the amber-haired fairy in deep confusion. Lady Venus barely looked older than Tatl and yet, if Tatl was to be believed, she was over seven hundred years old!

"I _did_ say that not too long ago, Dek," Tatl replied, standing back upright. "Anyway, mom, what happened to you earlier? How did you get your heart container removed from your body?"

Venus frowned, looking down at the pool below them. "It happened not too long ago - around sunrise, to be exact. I was under the assumption that the Skull Kid arrived to assist me with the morning preparations, and, well, I grew _careless_, to say the least. The child used a binding spell to hold me in place and _tore_ the heart container right out of me with his bare hands! Had I not used a spell to grant it a body, I would've certainly _died _from such a ghastly assault!"

_A__ binding sp__ell?_ He stroked his chin. Was that the same magic trick that the imp used to paralyze him back in the catacombs?

Tatl walked up to Venus, hands clasped in front of her. "H-hey, mom," she said, clearing her throat, "I have a favor to ask of you."

Venus looked down, smiling calmly at her daughter. "Yes, Tatl? What do you need for me to do?"

"See," she continued, scratching the back of her head, "my Deku Scrub friend here needs your help. See, he got ambushed by the Skull Kid in the Catacombs, and-"

Venus' smile curled into a frown. "The _Catacombs?_ Tatl Beryllia, I _specifically_ told the three of you to _never_ enter the catacombs!"

"Look, mom, I know!" she replied, backing away from the angered fairy woman. "I'll explain why we - I mean, _he_ - was there later! Anyway, there, he was transformed into that Deku Scrub you see over there by the Skull Kid. He needs you to remove the curse thingy."

Venus shouted sternly, "And you had nothing to do with his unfortunate encounter with the imp… _right_?"

"No, _n-no_!" Tatl nervously replied, shaking her head. "I had nothing to do with that, honest! I just found out about it from him after the fact!"

Venus gasped. "And you left _Tael_ with the imp? Why would you _do_ that?"

"Wait, mom, let me explain! I was just-!"

"Excuse me, Lady Venus?" Sonic finally said. As much as he liked to see Tatl being told off for once, the longer the argument went on, the longer he would stay as a Deku Scrub. "Can you help me with my problem, now?"

"Oh, right." Venus looked down at Sonic, smiling sheepishly. "I apologize, young one; I almost lost myself there. Please, do come closer."

With a nod, Sonic stepped up to the towering Great Fairy. "Okay, what do you want to do?" he asked.

"Close your eyes…" she replied softly.

He promptly closed his eyes. He suddenly felt something warm press lightly on his forehead. After a few seconds of silence, a light, airy voice spoke up.

"What do you see, mom?" It was Tatl, to his surprise.

"A… blue hedgehog…" Venus replied. Her voice took on a nervous, mournful tone.

"Yeah, that's his true form. You see anything else?"

"Tendrils of darkness… emanating from his chest. He appears to be asleep, deep within the body of a titanic Deku Scrub…"

This sent chills down his spine. So it wasn't just a dream; the mega-sized Deku Scrub had actually got him, using him as some sort of heart container like thing.

"Wait, what? Can you see anything else?"

"No… just the Deku Scrub." He suddenly felt the warm sensation and force dissipate a bit. "Whatever magic the imp used to transfigure the blue one, it's one that I cannot seem to fully recognize."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… on the one hand, it feels familiar, almost as if I cast it myself. Yet, on the other hand, it feels like something completely new to me. It's hard to describe, is what I'm saying…"

"Huh… okay, Dek, you can open your eyes now."

_Finally…_ With that, he opened his eyes, rubbing them a bit with his hands. "Great Fairy, is there anything you can do to cure me of this… weird… deku transformation thing?"

"Hm…" Venus put her hand to her face, stroking her chin a bit. Frowning, she replied, "I hate to say this, but unfortunately, removing this hex placed on you is beyond even _my_ power at the moment."

Sonic's heart nearly came to a halt. Even the Great Fairy couldn't help him with his dilemma. Was he doomed to be stuck as a Deku Scrub forever?

"For now," Venus continued, "the most I can offer you is a way to better control the dark magic that has now invaded your heart container, so that it cannot immediately endanger your life. Do you wish to accept it _now_, or try to wait until I can find a way to get rid of the hex altogether?"

Sonic put his hand to his face and thought about it. If he couldn't get rid of the dark magic at the moment, he could stand to at least have _some_ control over it.

After a couple seconds, he finally said, "Okay, I'll take it. What do I have to do?"

She held out her hands. "Stand still and close your eyes again. It will be over quickly."

As told, he closed his eyes. Suddenly, the air around him grew warm. As the feeling went on, his body felt lighter and lighter, almost as if the gravity in the building was disabled. He tried to press down towards the floor as hard as he could, but after awhile, he suddenly couldn't feel the ground. He opened his eyes a little bit and saw that he was floating just barely off the ground.

He was covered in a column of orange light. He looked around in confusion, eyes opened as little as he could, as the light column lifted him higher and higher. He looked ahead and saw the fairies, just a few feet away. Tatl was looking on at him as Venus, eyes closed herself, had her arms out and chanting to herself in the same mysterious language as the stray fairy's chant from just a few moments ago.

After a few seconds, the light eventually went away, leaving behind a confused and woozy Sonic. He started to drift back down to his feet. He breathed a sigh of relief as he landed lightly on the cold stone ground below.

"Hey, Dek, are you alright?" Tatl said, looking over to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He looked at his hand and gasped. A faint green aura emanated around his hand as if they were the outlines of a cartoon character. As he checked his body over, he saw that the aura was emanating throughout his body.

"Well?" Tatl said, hands on her hips. "How do you feel?"

"Well…" Sonic replied, waving his arms a bit. "I _do_ feel a bit better, like I just took a quick nap. But, what's with this… funky glowy… energy stuff? What happened?"

"You have been imbued with the power to control the dark magic that is present in your body," Venus said, looking down upon the duo. "What you see right now is your magical aura coming forth from your body."

"Um… I don't follow," Sonic said worriedly. "Why am I glowing like I'm radioactive or something?"

"Radioactive?" Venus giggled, shaking her head, "No, dear child, it's your life force. Every being here has some form of life force; some can manipulate it better than others. At any rate, if I can recall correctly, as your present form of the Deku Scrub, you should be able to form spheres of raw magic from your aura to better defend yourself against anything that may impede you."

"Whoa… _cool!_" He looked up to Venus and gave a little thumbs-up. "Thanks, Venus! I guess it'll have to do for now!" As he let his arm down, he glanced down and saw a reflection of himself in the sparkling water below. He gave a sigh as he looked away from his transformed face.

"Oh, Lady Vee!" Tatl flew up to Venus and clasped her hands together. "If it's possible, do you know where the Skull Kid and my brother went?"

Venus shook her head. "Unfortunately, after the imp removed my heart container, I was pretty much knocked out."

Tatl rested her hand on her face, humming lightly to herself. After a couple seconds, she shot up and snapped her fingers. "Shikashi might know where they went!"

"Who?" Sonic asked, confused.

"Jaro Shikashi, Professor of Astronomy at Clock Town University," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Now that I remember, me, my brother and the Skull Kid were planning on visiting that old geezer today. He lives in the observatory outside of town, though…"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sonic said, already walking down the flight of stairs. The quicker he can find that imp, the quicker he can get back to normal. "Let's go!"

As they were about to make their way back down the steps, Venus appeared right in front of them. "Please, I must warn you." Placing her hands on their shoulders, she looked straight in their faces. "You absolutely _must _be careful with that child! Do not, I repeat, _do not_ underestimate his powers; if he can do _this_ to me, then there's no telling what he's capable of doing!"

_No kidding..__._

She turned and looked down at Sonic. "If it's possible, Dek, return here tomorrow and come see me. I _should_ be able to provide you some more help with that dark magic." With that, Venus stood back up and moved aside, granting them the way to the exit.

Tatl walked over to Sonic. "Okay, now let's go find a way to get to that observatory."

"Right. Thanks again, Lady Venus."

"You're very welcome," she replied, nodding. "Farewell, and good luck with your search."

* * *

_Author's Note__:_ And with that, Chapter Five comes to a close.

Anyway, how is the story so far? Did you find this chapter enjoyable? Boring? If you have any questions or problems with this story, post your concerns as a review or send me a private message. Any constructive feedback is, and will always be, much appreciated.


	6. Tatl's Fiasco

"Hey," Sonic said, "are you _sure_ this is the right way to that observatory?"

"Of _course_, I'm sure!" Tatl replied, flapping her wings faster. "Hurry up!"

With Lady Venus Beryllia, the Great Fairy of Magic, back in one piece, Sonic and his reluctant ally Tatl went back on their search of the masked Skull Kid and Tael. The mid-morning sun shined high above the small town. The air that blanketed it felt mildly warm from the bright sunlight shining down upon it. As they exited the tunnel from the Northern Park, Sonic gave a little gasp at what immediately came into view.

The eastern section of Clock Town was a whole different monster from the others. Looking it over from where he stood, it could easily surpass the size of the Northern Park from before. Going by the huge vividly-colored buildings that surrounded them, he can tell that it was probably the entertainment district of the town.

As they rushed through the higher, emptier area of East Clock Town, a sharp pain suddenly made its way up Sonic's leg. He gave a little yelp as he stopped and rubbed his leg.

"Wait, hold up," Sonic gasped, holding his hand out. "C-can we take a breather first?"

Had he been in his true form, he wouldn't even think to ask that question. As the Deku Scrub, however, he felt that his stamina was extremely limited compared to what he was used to, even with the magic boost Lady Venus gave him. Though they had been walking for a few minutes, he felt like his body was ready to give up right then and there.

Looking back, Tatl sighed. "What are you whining about _now_, Dek?"

"I said, 'Can we take a break for a minute?'"

"Oh, come on now!" she shouted, throwing her hands up. "We _finally_ got a clue on where the Skull Kid and my brother might be, and you're _already_ wimping out on me? Don't you care about getting your body back to normal? What about our deal?"

"Tatl," Sonic stated exasperatedly, crossing his arms, "we've been up, down and all around this town _all morning_. You're honestly saying we can't spare a couple seconds to rest? Besides, it's not like the imp's gonna actually hurt your brother, right? He's _his_ friend too,_ right_?"

Pausing for a second, Tatl folded her arms and snorted. "Fine. I guess we can rest for _just _a couple minutes. Then, we're going _straight_ to the observatory, got it?"

He breathed a short sigh of relief. "Thanks." Looking around, Sonic spotted a bench, right near a building overlooking the square. "Hey, let's sit over there."

"Whatever, Dek, just hurry up so we can actually get something done!"

He scurried over and plopped down on the wooden bench. For the first couple minutes, he mostly kept to himself. While Tatl was busy tending to her dress, Sonic just sat there, looking at the crowds that were going to and from the various buildings in the square. The more he looked on, the more restless he felt. Had he been in his original shape, he'd be ripping his way through the town, leaping from building to building as he would always do. He felt a sense of restriction all over his body, as if he was tied to the town itself. As much as he hated to admit it, at that very moment, he almost wished that he had never gone on the world tour that landed him in the rut that he was in.

"Alright, Dek," Tatl said, brushing off her silky dress, "here's what we're gonna do. You're listening?"

"Yeah," Sonic replied, eying the passing crowd. "Spill it."

"Okay, see, the quickest way to the observatory is through the East Gate here. From there, it's only a several mile trip to the observatory. If you're anything like how you are in your normal form, getting here should take no time at all!"

"I… guess so?" Sonic said warily. Emptiness passed over his body; with how tired he is in his Deku form, he couldn't help but feel that he might not be able to do it.

"From there," Tatl continued, "we'll talk to Professor Shikashi. Hopefully, he'll give us _some_ idea of where the Skull Kid is. Sounds like a good plan, huh?"

Sonic thought for a second, then shrugged. "It's not like we got anything else to go on."

"Right." Tatl hopped off the bench and stretched, letting out a loud yawn. "Well, no point in staying in this drab town. Let's get out of here!"

"Got it," said Sonic, hopping to his feet.

And with that, they took off down the stairs to the center of the area. Rivaling the Northern Park in size, it was bustling with people of various shapes and sizes. It was even busier than the South District; huge crowds of people were walking about in the huge center square of the area, going about their own business. Other were milling about; a pair of identical jugglers, dressed in red and blue, were doing their routine near a tall pole lined with streamers going in every direction. Children were playing around in the mini-playground near what appeared to be a building that bore a strong resemblance to a treasure chest. Construction workers were busy at work putting up banners and poles throughout the huge area.

"Alright," Sonic shouted, pushing people aside, "where's the Gate we gotta leave through?"

"It's just up ahead!" Tatl replied, flying overhead.

After a few seconds of walking through the crowd, they made it to the Eastern Gate. Lined on the sides with a pair of brick walls, it towered over the other buildings in the square. Hanging high above the gateway was a wooden fence-like structure with a sign of a symbol that resembled a stylized eye. Stationed near the gate was a single man, clad in body armor. Armed with a spear twice his size, he stood strong and firm, sternly looking around the gateway.

"He looks a little annoyed," Sonic said, eyeing the stern guardian. "Okay, should we _really_ be bothering him right now? I mean, can't you just fly over the gate, or something?"

"Yeah…" Scratching the back of her head, Tatl said, "Well, last time I tried_ that_, I nearly got myself imprisoned. Trust me, Dek, the guards here in this town are _prett__y_ serious about their jobs."

"Oh," Sonic replied, blinking. "Of course."

"Anyway, stay here and let _me_ do the talking. From the looks of things, he definitely won't give a Deku Scrub kid like you the time of day."

"Really, now? How are you so sure that he'll pay _you_ any mind?"

"Oh, _please," _Tatl struck a pose, puffing out her chest. "What man in their right mind would ignore a _gorgeous_ fairy like _me?_"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Sure you are, Tatl…"

"Oh, you'll see, Dek!" She said, and she fluttered over to the guard. The guard, towering over the both of them, only looked down at the fairy, barely paying her any mind.

"Tatl," Sonic said, "I don't think this'll wo-"

"_HELLO, _Mister Guard!" she suddenly yelled. Her voice took on an obnoxiously cutesy voice that sent chills down Sonic's spine. "How _are_ you this lovely morning of today!"

_We're off to a good start already…_

The guard paused, looking at Tatl as if she had suddenly grown an extra head, and then muttered, "Fine, I guess."

"Oh, that's simply _lovely_ to hear, sir!" Making a cutesy face as false as her act, she started to flutter past the guard, saying, "Well, I guess I'll be going on my way, then! Alright, Dek, let's get movin-!"

"Stop right there!" Without warning, the guard lifted and pointed his spear at the surprised fairy, nearly nicking her in her stomach. "Do you have any errands in the canyon?"

"Um, well, actually," she stuttered, backing away from the spear point, "we, as in, me and the little Deku Scrub over here, have no business to attend to in the canyon. We just need to go over to the observatory, so, uh, can we go?"

Pulling back his spear, the guard replied, "I apologize, Ms. Beryllia, but due to recent events that had transpired out in Termina Field, we are unable to let civilians through without a weapon."

"Oh, _really?_" Suddenly, Tatl grabbed the guard by the unarmed hand. "You can't make an exception for a sweet, innocent woman like _me_?" Her voice took on that seductive tone that left Sonic grimacing in embarrassment.

"Hey, what the heck are you doing?" Sonic shouted, grimacing as much as his wooden face could allow. "Are you _really_ gonna resort to _that_?"

Tatl shot him a glare and whispered, "I know what I'm doing, stupid…"

Sonic raised a hand to his face and sighed. _I can't believe she's actually doing this…_

Focused on the guard again, she continued, "Please, just let me through. We don't have to tell _anyone_ about this. I'll make it worth your while if you do…" Pushing the guard up to the wall, she started to pull down her dress, giving the guard a view of her cleavage. "Come on, guard, just this once… _please?_"

Grimacing in disgust, the guard replied, taking her hand off his arm, "Ms. Beryllia, you _are_ aware that this form of… conduct on my person can run the risk of netting you some time in the town jail, correct?"

"Oh, _d-damn__,_" Tatl stuttered. Blushing a bright red glow, she quickly pulled her dress back up, saying, "Oh my goodness! I'm so, so, so _sorry,_ Mr. Guard! I _honestly _didn't know what I was thinking, doing all… that to you!" Clasping her hands, she bowed in front of the peeved guard. "Can you _please_ find it in your heart to forgive me for that?"

Raising an eyebrow, the guard replied, "For this occasion, I will _gladly_ forget that… display ever occurred." Standing back up straight, he continued, "Look, I'll just state this once: until you can show me that you have a weapon on your person, I _cannot_ let you pass through here. Understand?"

Tatl sighed, looking down towards the ground. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, take your Deku friend and move along."

"Fine…" She fluttered up to and past Sonic. "Come on, Dek…"

"Okay…?" Sonic said quizzically as he followed close behind. As he left the gate area, he could hear a gruff voice mutter, "Fairies…" Sonic only shook his head and walked on.

Back in the higher area of the district, Sonic was fuming. Seeing someone resort to that in lieu of any actual plan just struck a nerve with him. Facing the fairy girl, he yelled, "What the heck were you thinking back there?" Sitting back down on the bench, he continued, "You _knew_ you didn't have to do all that to that dude! I mean, come on, don't you have _any_ sense of shame?"

"Oh, hush," Tatl replied, waving him off. "I'm thinking of another plan…"

"You're not even listening to me, are you?" Sonic shouted, glaring at the callous fairy. "Don't you have a knife on you, or something? Why couldn't you show _that_ to him?"

"_Wrong!_" Tatl reached into her stocking and pulled out a long cyan stick. Shimmering with glittery sparkles and covered with small scratches, the small rod was tipped with a silvery gem, its edges sharpened to a fine point. "_T__his_ is a wand! Even if I _did_ have a knife, he wouldn't have accepted it, you idiot! Knives and wands aren't exactly something you can defend yourself with against some of the nasties out there!"

"That's a lie, and you know it!" Sonic screamed, charging over to Tatl. "I saw what you did with that thing, nicking me in the shoulder like that!"

"Oh, and I suppose you can show me how to use a flippin' _wand_ like a sword? You know, you're really full of shi-!"

"Can you _morons_ just shut the hell up already?"

Sonic and Tatl looked back, screaming, "Hey, who the he-!" What graced their presence was a reasonably tall man dressed in theatrical looking clothes, arms crossed behind him. Between the bloodshot eyes, the furrowed eyebrows and the wide scowl, the man had a look that radiated anger and bitterness.

"I don't really care what you idiotic children are arguing about, but you're in my way! Move out of it! _NOW_!"

"Oh, um, sorry, sir!" Sonic said, quickly scurrying aside. "You can go right ahead, sir!"

"Bah!" As they looked on, the man stormed off past them and down the stairs to the square.

"Anyway…" Tatl looked back at Sonic, sporting a toothy smirk. "In the middle of that stupid argument, _I've_ come up with another plan!"

Sonic scoffed. "What, you're gonna perform a striptease on another guard?"

Tatl grimaced. "Not _that_, you idiot! I know another way to get to the observatory!"

"Oh, _really_, now?" Sonic crossed his arms, muttering, "Why couldn't we've tried this 'Plan B' in the first place?"

"I _just remembered it_, stupid! Anyway, that shortcut, as I would like to call it, is right down that alleyway over there!"

Glancing past her, Sonic looked down the dilapidated alleyway. Trash laid strew all over the brick street, with overturned trashcans pouring out garbage. Huge stagnant puddles of water dotted the pathway, giving the street a slightly flooded look to it.

Looking back at Tatl, he quipped, "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope!" Pushing past Sonic, she flew down the backstreet. "Come on, already! We've already wasted a buttload of time with that fiasco!" With that, she turned around a corner, out of sight.

Looking up to the sky and the ominous looking moon, Sonic sighed loudly. "Oh, Sonic," he muttered, "what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Without another word, he trudged his way down the dingy passageway. He tiptoed past the trash, leapt over the puddles and pushed the trashcans aside. Just as he turned the corner, he heard a loud shriek, followed by…

"_What do you MEAN, 'you changed the password'?"_

Looking ahead, Sonic saw Tatl hovering over a small human boy in front of a door. Clad in a white shirt, blue shorts, and brown shoes, the child had a bright yellow bandanna tied over his head. The boy had his hands over his face, cowering in the midst of the temperamental fairy girl. Fists clenched, she looked ready to beat the living daylights out of the poor boy.

"I'm s-sorry, Tatl!" the boy managed to say. His voice sounded almost as squeaky as his. "B-but Jim said that-!"

"Jim said _what, _exactly?" Hands on her hips, she glared down at the boy, gritting her teeth in anger. "Are you guys _hiding_ something from me? 'Cuz, if you _are_…"

"Hey, Tatl!" Sonic shouted, running over to the fairy and boy. "Leave the kid alone!"

"Huh?" The kid looked up, staring at Sonic. "Wh-who are you?"

"Just call me Sonic," he replied calmly, waving his hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… are you friends with Tatl?"

Sonic glanced at the angered fairy. "You could say that. Anyway, why was Tatl hassling you like that?"

Standing back up straight, the boy gave a sigh. "She wanted to get in our hideout."

Looking up at the peeved fairy, Sonic shouted, "Hey, I thought you knew how to get to the observatory! What's up?"

Pointing at the door in front of them, she replied, "This _is_ the way to the observatory, Dek! He just won't let us through for some _stupid_ reason!"

Looking back at the boy, he asked, "Is this true?"

The boy nodded. "Yes, but here's the thing: only members of the Bombers' Secret Society of Justice are allowed to enter the Hideout!"

"Well, can you just let us through, just this once?" Sonic asked, holding his hand out as if offering a handshake. "See, we're kinda in a rush to get to the observatory and see Professor Shikashi."

The boy shook his head. "Sorry, but we can't allow any exceptions. Jim's orders, nothing personal!"

"Jim?" Sonic crossed his arms. "Is Jim, like, the leader of this club, or something?"

"Yep!" Pointing out behind them, the boy continued, "If you want to talk to him about becoming a member, you can find him in the Northern Park!"

"Got it." Sonic looked up at Tatl. "Let's head back and find this Jim character."

Tatl shrugged her shoulders, fluttering back out of the alleyway. "Whatever, Dek. I've got a few choice words for that little brat anyway, leaving me out on the "new" password. That lousy brat got _some_ nerve..."

As he started to walk down the alleyway, the boy yelled, "Hey, Sonic!"

Looking back, Sonic replied, "What's up?"

"Th-thanks, Sonic," the boy said, giving him a thumbs-up. "Oh, and my name's Alfred, by the way!"

"No prob," Sonic replied, returning the gesture. "Just wanted to help!"

Tatl yelled from around the corner, "Stop wasting time and hurry up already!"

"Guess I'll catch ya later!" And with that, Sonic took off out of the alleyway, a new mission in mind.

* * *

_Author's Note__: _And with that, Chapter Six comes to a close, and boy howdy, it's about time, too!

First, I must apologize for the Schedule Slip for this story. You guys have no idea what has happened to me last year. To put it as succinctly as possible: between finding out that I had cancer, having to take a temporary leave from college because of said cancer, and having to bust my butt trying to arrange it so that I can get the treatment for it, I generally had close to no free time to work on this, among other things. Don't worry, though: everything's been taken care of, so it's safe to say that I've returned.

I also apologize for the shorter than average chapter, but hey, it's better than nothing, right? Anyway, next chapter will involve the Bomber's Hide n' Seek minigame. Now, how to go about making hide n' seek interesting to read...

Anyway, how is the story so far? Did you find this chapter enjoyable? Boring? If you have any questions or problems with this story, post your concerns as a review or send me a private message. Any constructive feedback is, and will always be, much appreciated.

More chapters will be coming very soon...


	7. The Bombers' Secret Society of Justice

Back in the Northern Park, they scoured the entirety of the huge playground in search of the wayward Jim. After spending over a half-hour of searching, they finally found the leader of the Bombers near the Northern Gate. However...

"What do you _mean_, 'you won't give me the password'?"

Sonic the Hedgehog-turned-Deku Scrub found himself between a rock and a hard place. To his left, fluttered his temperamental fairy... "friend," Tatl Beryllia. Arms locked in a tight fold, she was loudly shooting her mouth off at the leader. She was practically glaring daggers at him, with a ferocity Sonic hadn't seen from anybody before, not even Knuckles and Amy. Her face glowed a bright red, giving off a threatening aura to her that made her seem almost devilish.

To his right, stood the supposed leader of the Bombers. Unlike him and Tatl, he was a human boy who looked to be no older than twelve or thirteen years old. Just like Alfred, he wore a brightly colored bandanna on his head, with a single tuft of reddish brown poking out from his forehead; however, his was a dark shade red, matching the color of Tatl's current face. Unlike the fuming fairy, he was significantly calmer, shooting away at a purple balloon hovering over them with a peashooter. Even with Tatl angrily yelled at him, he barely acknowledged her presence.

Right in the middle of the one-sided shouting match, Sonic could only sigh. _Looks like we're gonna be here for a while,_ he thought, trying to tune out Tatl's tirade, to no avail.

"How _dare_ you even _try_ to leave me out of something like that!" Tatl screamed, her face as red as a stop sign. " Don't you _know_ how _long_ I've been in this stupid group? Over _five_ years, that's what! I've been here longer than _you_ were, you little twerp! I _demand_ you give me that stupid password right now, Jim! _Right! Freakin'! Now!_"

The bandanna boy, Jim, paused his shooting just long enough to give her a blank stare. "You're kidding, right?" His voice, a somewhat squeaky pitch, carried an air of contempt. Sonic could tell that he isn't exactly in good terms with Tatl, either.

"_No, _I'm not 'kidding'!" she yelled, balling her fists. "I want that password, Jim! Stop screwing around, I actually freakin' need it this time!"

"Why the heck should I?" Stuffing his peashooter back in his pocket, he walked up to the hovering pixie and stated, "You have been absolutely _nothing_ but trouble for the Bombers ever since you joined, especially when you forced us to accept that imp friend of yours several years back! You haven't done a _single_ thing to help anyone here; heck, you can't even help the Bomb Shop Lady with her supplies without asking for some sort of reward!"

"What does _that_ have to do with what I'm talking about?"

"It _does_ have something to do with why you don't have that new password! Frankly, Tatl, you're just a pain to be around! You're mean, you're bossy, you're whiny, and you're _always_ shooting your mouth off when you don't get your way! Me and the guys are sick and _tired_ of your nonsense! In fact, now that you've reminded me, the only reason why we put up with you for as long as we did was because of Lady Venus!"

Tatl just glared angrily at Jim as he spoke, fists balled up and turning red themselves. Sonic could only smirk to himself, watching this all go down. _Well, SOMEBODY had to say it..._ he thought, watching Tatl glow a brighter red in fury.

"So," Jim continued, "me and the guys took a vote a couple days ago; as of right now, both you and that Skull Kid are officially out of the Bombers' Secret Society of Justice!"

Tatl was left in a stammering furor. She babbled and sputtered, clenching her fists so tightly, Sonic could hear her knuckles pop. After a few seconds of angered gibberish, she finally screamed, "_Fine!_ You know what? _Screw your group!_ Screw _each and every last one of your members! _I can be _more_ than well off by myself! In fact, I never even _liked_ your stupid group, anyways! Helping others... _bah_! What's the point of helping people if all you get for it is a stupid 'Thank you!'? Not even a _single_ rupee; just a simple congrats? How _BORING_!"

"Hey!" Jim angrily got up to her face; it was clear that she struck a nerve with him. "I'll have you know that the people of this town actually _appreciate_ our help! In fact, Tatl, you could stand to learn some humility!"

"Humility? How _dare_ you assume that I'm anything less than important! I'm _Tatl freakin' Beryllia_, daughter of the lovely Lady _Venus _Beryllia, who _made_ this damn town! I _demand_ importance, you hear me?"

"That does _not_ give you the rights to treat others like dirt! It's called _basic decency_, Tatl! You could stand to learn _that_, too!"

Now practically outshining the Sun in her red aura, Tatl raised a fist, also glowing as red as a tomato, and yelled, "You little son of a bit-!"

Knowing where it would likely head if he didn't intervene, Sonic finally said, "Hey, um, guys?"

Tatl and Jim, with almost-perfect symmetry, both turned to Sonic and yelled, "_WHAT?_"

Taken aback by the sudden outburst, Sonic stammered, "Well, uh, I was just thinking..."

"Well," Tatl said, her skin color slowly going back to its normal color, "spill it, Dek! What're you thinking?"

"Perhaps, uh," Sonic continued, scratching the back of his wooden head, "_I_ could join the Bombers? You know, so I can at least get the password?"

Tatl and Jim just stared at the hedgehog-turned-deku in abject befuddlement, shooting glances at each other. After a few seconds of total silence between them, they suddenly start to chuckle.

"Hm?" Sonic replied, eying the fairy and human in confusion.

The chuckles almost immediately grew into full-blown guffaws. Tatl rolled along the dirt ground of the park, laughing uproariously. Jim barely stood his ground while guffawing like a hyena. Sonic just stood there in confusion by the weird display. As the laughter went on and on, it started to annoy him.

"Hey!" Sonic yelled, tapping his foot angrily. "What's so darn funny?"

"_You?_" Tatl shouted in between gasps and guffaws. "Join the _Bombers_? _YOU?_" Before she could continue, she went right back into her giggling fit, rocking back and forth in uproarious glee.

"Look, no offense, Dek, or whatever your name is," Jim said, barely retaining enough control to calm himself down. "But, you're a _Deku Scrub_! You're, like, weaker than an anemic chuchu!" He, too, went back into a giggling fit.

As the laughing riot continued on, it really started to wear on Sonic's nerves. Clenching his fists, he yelled, "Will you stop already? That wasn't even remotely funny!"

His words, however, fell on deaf ears as the giggling fairy and human went on, completely ignoring the deku scrub boy. After a few more seconds of the display, Sonic finally couldn't take it anymore.

Head faced skyward, he finally screamed, "I _said, 'ST-'_" Before he could finish what he screamed, a huge green orb shot out of his mouth. It speed off like a bullet, barreling right at the purple balloon. As quickly as it exited from his mouth, it struck the balloon with a loud crack. The balloon instantly exploded like a shotgun blast, rattling the air with a powerful shock wave. Shreds of torn balloon pieces and sparkly confetti rained down, covering the ground below it in burnt remnants.

Sonic was left aghast in horror. Did he actually just do what he think he did? Looking around his immediate area, it was clear that he wasn't the only one who saw the blast. The air went dead silent, the laughs from before were a distant memory. Everyone, from the Town Guard posted there to the other children playing in the ground, stared blankly at the deku-hedgehog. Even Tatl and Jim, who were previously too busy laughing like hyenas to notice Sonic, were left mouth agape.

Suddenly in the spotlight, Sonic couldn't help but shrug his shoulders sheepishly. "Did _I _do that...?"

Tatl nodded blankly. "Yeah... you did..."

"Th-that..." Jim stammered. His shocked gasp almost instantly curled into a cheerful grin. "That was _awesome_!"

"What the huh?" Before Sonic knew it, Jim rushed over and gave him a hearty handshake, sweeping the confused hedge-scrub off the feet. "W-what did I do?" said Sonic, jittering from the unusually strong handshake.

"What did you do?" Jim replied, laughing. "You popped that balloon like it was _nothing_, Dek! I've been trying to pop that darn thing for the past couple days!"

"Wha-really?" Sonic said, finally regaining his bearings.

"Heck ya! Anyone who can pull off a stunt like _that_ should be in the Bombers, no questions asked!"

As Sonic looked on at Jim's praising over him, he couldn't help but giggle on the inside. Doing something that he didn't even do on purpose just made him one step closer towards getting his body back and well on his way out of that world. Still, he thought, he had to ask Jim one important question.

"Does that mean that I'll get the password?"

"Password?" Jim shouted, surprising Sonic. "Dek, I'm gonna give you the _works!_ Just let me run it through with the rest of the gang, an-"

"_Hey, wait a minute!"_

Sonic looked back and saw Tatl, stomping right over to them with a contemptuous scowl on her face. He could only growl to himself. _Tatl,_ _now is NOT the time to go shoot off your mouth like that..._

"Are you _honestly_ gonna just elect him into the gang like that?" Tatl yelled, flashing red like a police car. "I've had to run _ragged_ throughout this town just to even be _considered_ getting accepted, and he gets in just because he can shoot some stupid _bubble_? _No way_, man! I, for one, will _not_ put up with that!"

"Tatl, shut up..." Sonic whispered, glaring at the loudmouth fairy. "I'm trying to get us the darn password!"

Jim raised a hand to his chin. "To be fair, Dek, she does have a point, though. I mean, even with something awesome like that, I can't just let anyone get into the club like that."

"Wait, you're saying...?"

"Sorry, Dek." Jim shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head in disappointment. "You're gonna have to get initiated first."

Sonic glared at Tatl, who grinned smugly right back at him. He had to jump through extra hurdles to get his body back... just because the temperamental fairy couldn't keep her ego in check.

"Don't worry, though," Jim continued, "It should be pretty simple for you. Just give me a sec, and I'll explain everything." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a huge metal whistle. Before Sonic could cover his ears, the boy blew hard into the whistle. The rattling echoed throughout the busy park, giving everyone in the immediate area a sudden jolt.

"What the heck was that ab-"

Just before Sonic could continue his complaint, just as Jim put his whistle back in his pocket, four other boys suddenly ran up and lined up behind Jim. Though they were all in various shapes and sizes, they all wore identical clothes: a plain white shirt with blue sleeves, coupled with a pair of blue shorts. They each wore blue bandannas over their heads, a contrast with Jim's red.

"Alright, Bombers, listen up!" Jim yelled, taking on an authoritative tone. "I have some news to tell ya! For starters, Tatl and the Skull Kid are officially out of the gan-!"

Before he could finish, the group of boys suddenly started to cheer and applaud. Sonic watched in amusement as the group high-fived each other and gave loud hoots in glee. A loud growl from the offended fairy girl, however, brought the jubilant cheers to an equally abrupt halt.

"Anyway..." Jim started, shaking his head, "However, in their absence, we have a new recruit!" Pointing at Sonic, he continued, "He will be our new member, providing he pass our initiation!"

Suddenly, the group gave a collective groan, taking Sonic by surprise. He watched with bemusement as they hid their faces with their hands amidst the disappointment.

"You're kidding us, right, boss?" the taller blue-bandanna boy said.

"You want us to have a _Deku Scrub_ in our gang?" the shortest of the boys yelled. "They're weaker than even chuchus!"

"Relax, guys, this scrub is special." Jim coolly replied, before turning towards Sonic. "Alright, Dek, all you have to do is search this whole town and find all five of us. If you can do it in two hours, I'll make you a member! Are you ready?"

"Yeah, sure," Sonic replied, shrugging. "I'm _always_ up for hide-n'-seek."

Jim pointed over to the tree, smack dab in the middle of the park. "Go over there, close your eyes and count to 100, while we go hide!"

With a somewhat reluctant shrug, Sonic coolly walked over to the tree. Reaching the towering plant, he rested his head on the tree, covered his head with his woody arms and slowly counted. As he made it to forty, a loud chime rang from behind him. Looking up, he saw Tatl leaning against the tree, with a smug grin on her face.

"Oh, poor little _Deku Boy_..." she said smugly, chuckling to herself, "having to put up with these _stupid_ little kids' games..."

"And, I have you to thank!" Sonic crossed his arms and said, "You know, Tatl, you didn't have to open up your big trap and make me have to do this! Why did you go and shoot off your mouth like that?"

Tatl shrugged. "I just felt like doing it."

"... '_Felt like doing it_?'" Before Sonic finished, Tatl started to flutter towards the tunnel to East Clock Town. "Hey, where are ya going?"

"Gonna go play some games in East Clock Town," Tatl replied without looking back. "I have no time for these stupid brats' little games!"

"What? You're gonna leave me to do this alone?"

"Yep! Good luck!" With that, she took off into the tunnel, without a second glance.

Sonic growled, "Ninety-nine, one hundred! Now, where are you guys..."

Looking around his immediate area, he spotted nothing out of the ordinary: clumps of shrubs, stone and wooden pillars and a few slides dotted the grassy landscape of the park. Walking around, he spotted a few kids playing in the park without a care of the world. Sonic sighed gleefully; the carefree and playful display reminded him of the Chao Gardens from his world and the jovial antics of their inhabitants.

Just as he made it to the slide, he heard mumbled noises coming from behind the structure. "Huh?" Walking on the tips of his toes, he slowly crept up towards the back of the stone slide. As he approached the source of the sounds, part of a blue cloth peeked out from behind the stone construct.

"Bingo," Sonic whispered, smirking as much as his Deku face could allow. He quickened his pace, before finally jumping out and yelled, "Gotcha!"

To his surprise, he spotted two of the Bombers hiding behind the Bombers, both of which are the ones who complained about him beforehand.

"Aw, man!" the taller boy shouted, to Sonic's amusement. "What gave us away?"

"You just couldn't shut up for one measly minute, that's why!" the shorter boy replied, balling his fists. "Now, you've screwed us over!"

"Sorry to disappoint you guys, " Sonic said, grinning, "but what did you say about Dekus being weak?" The boys only folded their arms and faced away from him in response. "Hey, no need to be such sore losers, fellas! It's all fun and games, right?"

Just as Sonic started to walk away towards the Eastern Tunnel, he shouted, "Next time, pick a better hiding spot!" With that, he took off into the tunnel.

Back in East Clock Town, he walked along the stone pathway, looking around for any boys in blue bandannas. Now that he didn't have Tatl to distract him, he could observe his surroundings more clearly. In the center of the open square, a huge wooden pole stood tall, towering over the buildings in the area. Long multi-colored banners flanked out to its sides at its top, connecting it to the rest of the buildings. To his left stood a massive building, easily the largest in the area. Bearing a strong resemblance to a log cabin, the entrance was decorated with a blue emblem hanging high above it.

Looking to his right, he saw the long flight of stairs leading down to the rest of the bustling hub. The entertainment hub was even busier than before, with people of various shapes and sizes strolling and fluttering along without a care in the world. To Sonic's befuddlement, even with the looming, grimacing moon leering down upon them, they went about their business as if it wasn't even there.

As he walked around, he spotted another, shorter flight of stairs leading up to the roof of another building in the area. Looking towards the top of the stairway, he spotted a blue cloth just barely poking out.

_Is this a joke?_ Sonic thought, shaking his head is disbelief. _They're not even TRYING to hide from me!_

Rushing up the stairs as fast as his stubby Deku legs could allow, he sprung up with a little flip and yelled, "Gotcha!"

To his bemusement, two more of the Bombers were sitting on the roof of the building, one of whom holding a squirming chicken in his hands, trying to keep it quiet.

"Seriously, guys?" Sonic said, hand on his hip. "I thought this was hide-and-seek, not hide-in-plain-sight!"

"Yeah, well..." the rounder boy said in protest, before the boy in glasses calmly raised his hands.

"He does have a point..." he said dejectedly.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Sonic calmly went back down the flight of stairs, saying, "Yeah, you guys better work on finding better hiding spots..."

A few minutes later, he was back in West Clock Town. With the thoughts of the dog that nearly attacked him firmly etched in his mind, he decided to completely avoid the Southern Marketplace, making his way back through North Clock Town. _Better to be safe than sorry_, he thought, eyeing the square that stood before him. It was surprisingly quiet, with but a scant few amount of people strolling along. Looking over the group of buildings near the entrance, he spotted Jim sitting quietly on the bench near a wall, reading a book.

Sonic sighed. "This is starting to seriously insult my intelligence," he muttered, walking over to the red-bandanna boy. Without a single darn given, he just muttered, "Gotcha... whatever."

"Oh, you finally found me, huh?" Jim said, setting his book aside. "Found the others?"

"Yep." Sonic pointed behind him, and the rest of the Bombers all lined up. They all looked dejectedly, even angrily, at Sonic as he shrugged his shoulders. "It was a piece of cake."

"Wow, and in only twenty minutes?" Jim stood up and gave Sonic another hearty handshake. "Kid, I like you!"

"Okay, cool," Sonic said, not even bothering to put any effort in his handshake. "Can I get the code now?"

"Well, I was planning on making you a member of the Bombers, but, uh," Jim leaned over and whispered, "I don't think the guys would like that. See, after the whole deal with Tatl and the Skull Kid, we're limiting our membership to humans for the time being. Sorry!"

"To be honest, I just want that code," Sonic replied. "I have a bone to pick with that Skull Kid, too!"

"Oh, in that case..." Jim stood back up and gave him a thumbs-up. "I'll teach you the code, just like I promised. I can tell you only once, though, so pay close attention!"

Pulling out a pen and a notepad, Sonic said, "Sure, fire away!"

"Alright, Bombers, line up in Password Position!" Jim yelled, and the boys promptly lined up. Jim coolly walked over to the center of the line and yelled, "The code is...!" Suddenly, the boys all did an about-face, revealing numbers on the back of their shirts.

Squinting his eyes, he saw that the numbers on the shirts formed a five-digit number. "34152?" he said, writing it down while raising an eyebrow.

"Correct!" Jim said. "The entrance to the hideout is in East Clock Town! You know where that is?"

"Yeah, Tatl showed me..." Sonic muttered, putting the notepad away. "Thanks for the code!"

"No problem!" The boys all raised their fists and yelled, "The Bombers' Secret Society of Justice, always and forever!"

A few minutes later, Sonic was back in East Clock Town. He strolled along the stone square of the entertainment hub, notepad tightly gripped in hand. The sun practically beamed down onto him. He grinned to himself; he was just _one_ step closer to getting his body back. Nothing could stop him from being jovial: not the moon leering overhead; not the crowds of people had to push his way through; not even-

"_Hey, Dek!_"

...Her.

Growling to himself, he looked back and saw Tatl. She fluttered clumsily along in the air, carrying a book in her hands. Its cover a drab brown and bronze, it was easily half her size. She grinned gleefully as she made her way to the mildly-annoyed deku scrub.

"Oh, hey, Tatl," Sonic muttered. "Where were you?"

"Oh, _me_?" Holding the book out, she continued, "Well, I did a little shopping, grabbed a bite to eat, and picked up this _awesome_ book!"

"Oh, really? They've got shopping here too?" Sonic said sarcastically.

"This place has _everything_, Dek!" Cradling the book in her arms, she asked, "Hey, you're done with that stupid hide-n'-seek game yet?"

"Yep," Sonic said proudly, flashing his notepad. "The code is 34152!"

"Ah, good..." Tatl leaned in and whispered, "Let me guess: they didn't let you in as a member, right?"

"Well, yeah," Sonic said, putting his notepad away, "but right now, I'm more concerned about getting that Skull Kid than anything."

"Fair enough. You have your priorities, I guess." She started to flutter towards the alleyway. "Now, let's get this over with already. I'm getting tired of all this running around."

"Right-o."

They made their way through the alleyway, careful not to bump into or step in anything. After a few seconds, they were back in front of the entrance to the hideout.

Alfred, the yellow-bandanna boy, was still standing near the entrance to the hideout, reading a small book. Looking up, he said, "Oh, hey, Sonic! You got the password from Jim?"

"Ahem..." Tatl muttered, glaring at the boy.

"Oh, and, hey, Tatl..." he said, backing away from the angered fairy girl. "So, anyway, you got it?"

"Yeah," Pulling out the notepad, Sonic said, "The password is 34152, right?"

"Um... Alfred paused, before nodding. "That's right. If you know the code, then Jim made you a member, right?"

"Well, you could say that," Sonic said, smiling as he put his notepad away. "So, can I get in the Hideout now? I really need to see Professor Shikashi."

"Oh, sure, here you go!" Alfred walked up and, with a simple twist of the doorknob, opened the way to the hideout's entrance. The dirtbrown stone path, situated between two buildings, sloped downwards into a room underground.

"Finally!" Tatl yelled, shoving Alfred aside and walking down the path. "Let's go get that Skull Kid already, Dek!"

Just as Sonic started to walk down the path right behind her, Alfred shouted, "There's a lot of cool stuff at the Astral Observatory! Just to let ya know!"

"Oh, really," Sonic said, looking back. "That sounds kinda cool!"

"Yeah...and, um..." Alfred raised his fist and shouted, "The Bombers Secret Society of Justice, always and forever!"

Sonic paused, and shrugged. _Aw, what the heck..._ Raising his fist, he shouted back, "The Bombers Secret Society of Justice, always and forever!"

* * *

_Author's Note__: _And with that, Chapter Seven comes to a close, and for goodness sakes, it's about time, too!

Oy, you guys don't know how difficult it is to make hide n' seek actually somewhat interesting. I mean, sheesh, I've been stuck on this particular chapter for over three months, trying to make it not such a utter _bore_ to read! I'm honestly sorry if you don't find this chapter particularly interesting, but really, it's the best I can do. The next chapter should prove to be _much_ more exciting!

Anyway, how is the story so far? Did you find this chapter enjoyable? Boring? If you have any questions or problems with this story, post your concerns as a review or send me a private message. Any constructive feedback is, and will always be, much appreciated.


	8. Journey to the Astral Observatory

"Their hideout is in a _sewer_?"

Darkness surrounded the baffled Sonic and Tatl; only the torches dotting the walls and the fairy girl's light kept them from having to wander in complete darkness. Only the sounds of rushing water and ticking acquainted them. They stood on a stone balcony, overlooking an abyssal sea of darkness as far as the eye can see. To their right, a brick path, barely lit by torches and interrupted by gaps into the grimy water below, stretched on into eternity. To their left, a simple torch, flickering a bright red light in the pitch-black room. A long river flowed through right in front, black as the room around them. The air carried a slight chill, a huge contrast from the moderately warm air outside.

"Okay, what the _heck_?" Sonic said, backing away from the nearby torch and the walls. "I know us boys like to mess with dirty stuff at times, but this is _ridiculous_!"

"I know!" Tatl replied, clamping her nose shut with her left hand, while balancing her book with her right. It was now that Sonic was glad that he didn't have a nose as a Deku.

"Are you _sure_ that this is the only other way to the observatory?" Sonic asked, peering into the black water. Not a single sign of life was present in the briny canal.

"Yes, this is the only way!" Tatl said, gasping. "This path is, like, _decades_ old!"

"Don't the town guards even know about this? I mean, with a pretty blatant chink in their defense like this, I'm surprised the town _isn't_ up to their armpits in beasties!"

"Nope," Tatl said, "but then again, besides the Bombers, only me, Tael, the Skull Kid and Shikashi know about this particular passageway."

"Alright, then, which way do we go?"

Balancing the book on her right hand again, she pointed forward to the stone pathway. "That's the way to the observatory," she shouted, and she started to flutter down into the darkness. "Let's go! Time's a wastin'!"

Sonic sighed reluctantly. "Right."

Walking up to the dark river, Sonic looked forward. The way to the rest of the pathway was segmented into several small "islands" with the gaps filled by the poisonous-looking water that flowed through. Tatl floated over the islands like they were nothing to her, carefully balancing the book in her hands. One of the gaps of water were right in front of him. Peering to his left, he saw that the river flowed in from a huge grating just a stone's throw away from him.

"Well," Sonic muttered, gulping. "Guess there's only one way to do this..."

Stepping as far back as he could, he readied himself: standing in place, legs splayed. He balled his fists, eying the nearest "island". "Ready..."

"Hurry _up_ already, Dek!" echoed Tatl's voice.

Growling to himself, Sonic yelled, "_GO!_" And with that, he took off into a sprint. Though not nearly as fast as his normal form, he made it back to the river in seconds. Just as he reached the very edge of the stone balcony, he closed his eyes, crouched forward and leapt as high as he could towards the near island. He felt the wind rushing through his hollow thorns as he soared over the stagnant canal water. After soaring through the air for a few seconds, he landed feet-first on a hard structure with a loud thud.

Opening his eyes, he looked back and gasped. In just a single bound, he had not only cleared the rivers, he also made it over the "islands", landing on the stone pathway leading to the observatory.

"_Wow,_ Dek..." Sonic looked forward and saw Tatl, mouth agape with a slight smile. "That was _awesome!_ How did you do that?"

Sonic shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "I leaped?"

Tatl smirked. "Hm, if _this_ is how you're like as a Deku Scrub, then I'm just _dyin'_ to see how you are in your regular form! I just might actually give you that... _reward_, after all..." She gave him a little wink.

"Oh, cool, but let's wait until we get that Skull Kid before we discuss that, hm?"

"Lead the way, Dek..." she said with a giggle.

"Gladly," Sonic replied, and he started to march on down the pathway, Tatl fluttering close behind. He grinned to himself; even in his Deku form, he could still pull off awesome stunts. He was on top of the world; not even the gritty and drab atmosphere of the hideout dampened his glee.

As seconds turned to minutes, however, the high started to slowly wear off. The longer he looked around, trying to fins something interesting to look at, the more bored he felt. The dirt-brown, muddy stone passage stretching on into the abyss, the dawdling river of stagnant water off to the side, all barely lit by small torches lining the walls. Only the hummingbird-like flapping from Tatl's wings kept the travel from being a completely silent monotony.

_How long is this gonna go on?_ Sonic thought, trudging along in the utter monotony of the sewers.

Minutes stretched into hours. Throughout the whole trip down the seemingly-endless tunnel, Sonic kept to himself, glancing the unchanging looks of the area. Looking back, he saw Tatl fluttering close behind, reading the book while using her strange glow as a reading light. After a while, a growing sense of dread started to dwell inside Sonic. Looking up to the ceiling, he could help but sigh.

_Really starting to miss sunlight right about now..._

Just as he started to yawn from the utter boredom, a loud chattering sound suddenly rang out from above.

"Huh?" He came to a halt, looking around for the source of the noise.

"What's up, Dek?" Tatl said, hovering to his side.

"Hey, you heard that sound?" Sonic replied, head flitting to and fro.

"Um... what sound?" Tatl asked, looking around herself. "Can you describe it?"

"It was a strange, chattering sound..." Sonic muttered, "kinda like someone rustling their hands in a bundle of sticks. "

"Bundles of-?" Tatl gasped. "Oh, no..."

"What, what's wrong?" Sonic asked, and Tatl held a hand to his mouth.

"Look, Dek, we have to get to the observatory _fast!_" Tatl replied sternly. "We might've just landed ourselves in a _whole_ mess of trouble now!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sonic said, and started to sprint. "Let's get moving!"

Tatl started to flutter speedily beside him. "Right behind ya!"

As they ran, the strange chittering sound grew louder, echoing throughout the dark hallway. His heart pulsed a mile a minute as he sped along. Surprisingly, even Tatl looked scared, muttering something quietly as she clutched the book close to her chest. As seconds became minutes, the chittering, once barely louder than the cracking of the torches, was now loudly echoing all around him. His vision started to go foggy, his heart pumping as fast as he could run.

After a few more minutes of running, he started to see a stone wall slowly come into view. A huge metal grating was off to the side, rising from deep below the river. A bright red light emanated far off to the right of the wall.

"We're almost there, Dek!" Tatl shouted, panting deeply. "We just have to get over the-!"

Suddenly, a huge black shadow jumped down from the ceiling, uttering an unearthly chittering howl. Screaming as loudly as their bodies could allow, Sonic and Tatl both leapt back, landing butt-first on the cold, dirty stone ground.

"What the heck is _that_?" Sonic screamed, clutching tightly on his wooden chest.

He breathed in loud, audible gasps as the shadowy creature slowly came into view. It was a spider; a spider whose size could rival even the largest thoroughbreds. It had beady, little red eyes that almost seemed to glow in the darkness of the sewer. Its eight spindly legs, as black as night, were covered in sharp spine-like hairs. Greenish venom dripped from its fangs, splashing down hard on the stone floor. What gave Sonic the most pause was its abdomen: it had a bony, stark-white shell that looked like a melted human skull. The "eyeholes" of the skull seemed to emanate a red light, almost as if it was an extra set of eyes for the arachnid.

"It's a Skulltula..." Tatl muttered, jittering in place and clutching the book.

"A _what?_" Sonic yelled, eying the scared fairy girl.

Using her arm as a balance, she flipped open the massive book. Flipping through the page as frantically as she could, she finally came to a stop and yelled, "_This!_"

Looking at the page, he gasped. A photograph of a massive arachnid graced the page, looming over a helpless girl, followed by columns of characters that he couldn't quite read.

"These spiders are _really_ dangerous, Dek!" Tatl said, closing the book with a loud clap. "If we don't kill this thing off fast, it's gonna kill and _eat US!_"

"Okay... ?" Sonic muttered. If he had teeth right now, they would be chattering like a jackhammer. "How do we kill this thing? It's as big as a horse!"

"W-well," Tatl stuttered, the skulltula creeping closer to her, "it has that hard skull shell on its abdomen, so you can't just strike it there, I guess..."

"So, how _DO_ you kill it?" Sonic screamed, backing away from the leering skulltula.

"Its underbelly..." Tatl yelled, clutching her book tight, "We gotta flip this thing over and attack its underbelly! It's the only soft part of its body!"

"Got it! You take the back; I got the front!" Sonic yelled, and he dashed over to the skulltula. Diving at the screeching arachnid, he grabbed it by its fangs.

"Gotcha!" Sonic yelled, grabbing the bony fangs as tight as his little Deku hands could allow him. Green venom started to seep into his hands, coating his bracelets in a snot-like gunk. He eyed the goop nervously, while thanking himself for letting Lady Venus heal him up; otherwise, he would've been in a far more grave situation than he was already in.

"Hey, Dek!" echoed Tatl's voice from behind the hulking spider. "I got this thing by its web-spitty bits! Now, on the count of three, we flip this oversized pest over into the water! Ready?"

Getting a tight hold on the skulltula, Sonic yelled, "Yeah, let's _go_!"

"_One... _"

"_Two... _"

"_THREE!_"

And, with one mighty, almost-synchronized shove, Sonic, along with the help of Tatl, forced the skulltula to flip right into the brackish sewer water below. To his, and presumably Tatl's surprise, the arachnid was _much_ lighter than it appeared, flipping over as if it was a simple playing card. Landing in the water with a loud splash, it thrashed about in the stagnant sewer water, sending its legs spiralling around it.

"_LET'S GET IT!_" Tatl screamed, and she, without a second glance, tossed her book aside, hopped on top of the skulltula's underbelly, pulled out her wand, and started to slash at its legs.

"_Banzai_!" Sonic shouted, and he leapt down on the arachnid's abdomen. They both went to work on the vulnerable spider, slashing away and stomping at its soft innards. Globs of a clearish liquid came pouring out of the wounded skulltula, spilling into the sewer water like a burst dam. As Sonic stomped at the unprotected undersides, the translucent liquid splashed against the stone walls, giving them a sticky appearance. The stick-like legs each fell straight into the water with every slice from Tatl's wand. After a few seconds of the no-holds-barred beatdown, the arachnid, now emptied of its entrails, stopped moving. The skulltula was no more.

Climbing back onto the relatively dry ground of the stone pathway, Sonic and Tatl were sprawled on their back floor, panting deeply. They were both covered in the skulltula's remains, especially Sonic, who was covered head-to-toe in its entrails. Looking over to the dead arachnid, even while being dead exhausted, Sonic smiled like an idiot. It was the first bit of action he got since the Dark Gaia incident...and it felt _good_!

"Well, Dek," Tatl said, rolling to her side while breathing in deeply, "we're soakin' wet, we're _completely_ covered in skulltula guts, we reek like _crazy_..."

"But, we're _alive_..." Sonic said happily.

Tatl gave a thumbs-up, replying, "Hell yeah..."

After a few minutes of gasping and breathing, Sonic finally got back on his toes, brushing off the gunky remnants of the skulltula. "Alright," Sonic said, "let's go find that Skull Kid."

Picking up her book from the floor, Tatl replied, "Yeah, let's."

And with that, they made their way to the stone wall. Taking a hard left, they walked down the short hallway into a massive, sprawling room. It was considerably more well-lit, making the walls finally fully visible to them. They were made of brown bricks covered in green moss. The room itself was barren with only a few broken pots and a ladder leading to a huge entrance directly on the other side of the room.

"Alright, Tatl," Sonic said, walking towards the ladder. "You wanna go first?"

"Oh, so you wanna see the _goods_ already, huh?" Tatl replied with a smirk. "Ha, like I'm _really_ that stupid! _You_ go first. Besides, I can _fly_, remember?"

"Fine, fine..." Sonic said, and he grabbed the ladder. Slowly, he started to climb the ladder. As he made it, he heard a loud whistle ring out from behind him.

"What the?"

Sonic looked back and saw Tatl, coolly whistling to herself while cradling her book. She looked to the walls, while carrying a vague smirk on her face.

"Okay..." Sonic thought, raising an eyebrow. "Let's go, Tatl."

"Okay, _Dek_..." Tatl replied with a slight giggle, to Sonic's bemusement.

They made their way down the tunnel. Without a single torch lighting the way, only Tatl's light kept from being complete darkness. The tunnel seemed to stretch for miles, with no end in immediate sight. After a few minutes of silent walking, keeping mostly to themselves, a bright light started to come into view.

"Hey, is _that_ it?" Sonic asked, pointing towards the light.

"Yes!" Tatl yelled, and she started to flutter faster. "Let's go!"

"Got it!" Sonic started to run faster and faster, arms firmly locked to his sides. In just a few seconds, the light soon developed into a sprawling room; a most interesting room, as Sonic found out when he came to a halt right in its center.

"What the...?"

Pages upon pages of paper were strewn across the wooden floor of the room. Like the rest of the hideout, the walls were lined with gray bricks, each as drab and lifeless as the last. Stacks of wooden boxes, jars and pots lined the walls across the room, balancing an empty metal cage on top of them. As Sonic looked on, he grunted to himself.

_How much more of this dull stuff do I have to take?_

Looking over to his right, Sonic squeaked. What he saw was the most beautiful set of stairs he had ever seen. Erected high into the ceiling, each individual step was polished to the point where, even from where he stood, he could make out his face as if he was staring into a mirror. Each painted in a brilliant color, the step alternated between all the colors of the rainbow. Each step shimmered in a sea of sparkles. It was as if it came straight from the Radiant Emerald dimension. Looking over the rest of the junk-filled room, Sonic could've help but be baffled. As beautiful as it looked, the stairs stuck out from the rest of the room like a sore thumb.

"Ah..." Tatl sighed. "We're finally here, Dek!"

"Hello?" a voice sounded out from above. It sounded deep, yet somewhat creaky in pitch. "Who's down there?"

Putting a hand to her mouth, she yelled, "It's just me, Professor! I have to ask ya something!"

"Oh, is that you, Tatl?" the voice said, lightening up a bit. Whoever the voice belonged to, he clearly knew Tatl. "Oh, good! Please, do come up, dear child."

"That's Professor Shikashi?" Sonic said, pointing at the entrance to the higher floor.

"Yep," she replied, and started to flutter towards the steps. "Let's go."

Walking close behind Tatl, he made his way up the shimmering stairs. To his surprise, despite how shiny and polished they appeared to be, the steps weren't the least bit slippery to walk on. As he hobbled his way to the top, the banister, with an appearance just as vibrant as the steps, shifted through all the colors of the rainbow. As he came to the top, Sonic gave a loud gasp.

"_Wow..._" he thought, eying the new room.

A far cry from the significantly messier and grungy basement below, the observation deck was a vibrant kaleidoscope of colors. The ceiling of the dome-like room that hung above him had a starry display, showcasing a vast array of constellations, some of which looked familiar to him. The room itself was completely covered in a pastel pinkish-purple hue, giving the displays a psychedelic appearance to them, as if they were ripped straight from the Special Zone. The walls each had a three-dimensional cube design, as vivid in colors as the rest of the room. Even the door looked cosmic with its solar system-like designs etched and painted onto it.

Situating right in the center of the ceiling was a telescope easily as big as the ones he had seen on Earth. Coated in a shiny purplish hue, it had two huge gears on its sides, moving autonomously as it moved along the starry ceiling. Standing right below it was a tall elderly man. Cloaked in a shimmering blue robe, the man had long gray hair, flowing past his shoulders. He was hunched over, gazing into the eyepiece of the telescope with his arms firmly held behind his back. He made little mumbles to himself, moving the telescope to and fro.

"Hey, Professor!" Tatl yelled, flying over to the blue-robed man. "We're here!"

"Hrrm?" Looking up from the eyepiece, the man looked Tatl over. "Tatl, is that you?"

"Yes, Professor, this is me!" Tatl said, giggling. "How are you this fine day, sir?"

"Oh, I'm quite fine, Miss Beryllia, thanks," the man replied, smiling before looking over at Sonic. "Who's your friend over there?"

"Oh, him?" Tatl pointed over to Sonic, saying "Well, his name is Dek, and I found him while I was in town. He needs some help with something, sir."

"Ah, is that it?" The man held out a hand and waved it. "Do come over here, lad."

With a shrug, Sonic walked over to the elderly man. As he moved, an unnerving feeling settled in his body upon seeing the man's face. With a long gray mustache and a bright pink nose, he bore a vague resemblance to a certain someone Sonic knew and tolerated, at best.

"Hey, excuse me," Sonic said, stopping in front of the old man, "but are you really Professor Shikashi?"

"Well, now, you certainly are a lot more well-behaved than the other children I've seen lately." the man said, leaning down at Sonic while chuckling. "Yes, I'm Jaro Shikashi, Professor of Astronomy. Tell me, lad, are you a new member of the Bombers?"

"Well, er-"

"_Yes_," Tatl interrupted. "He just became a new member a couple hours ago, in fact."

"Interesting..." Shikashi raised a hand to his chin, stroking his beard. "Found by Tatl out of the blue and made a member of the Bombers within a span of a couple hours?"

Sonic gulped. Did Shikashi really catch on to him not being a member that quickly?

"Well," Shikashi said, "I guess they must've finally got rid of that Skull Kid then."

"Oh!" Sonic shouted, mentally sighing in relief; his cover wasn't blown after all. "That's exactly what I've came here for! Have you seen him?"

"Indeed, I have!" Shikashi yelled, taking Sonic by surprise. "That little troublemaker came here just a half-hour ago. He demanded that I give him my Moon's Tear and when I refused, he threatened to damage my instruments. As you can plainly see in the basement, he's already done a decent job at that!"

"Have you seen where he went off to?" Tatl asked.

"Yes; in fact, right now, he's prancing about on top of the clock tower! Gaze into my telescope, and see if I'm wrong!"

With a nod, Sonic hobbled over to the telescope, hopping onto the podium. Lowering it down to his eye-level, he gazed into the eyepiece and gasped.

"_It's him!_"

"Wait, _what_?" Tatl said, leaning in from the side and gasping herself. "What's he doing all the way up _there_?"

Sonic only shrugged in response. Prancing about on top of a massive gray structure, just as Shikashi said, was the masked Skull Kid. He juggled the Mystic Melody and the bag in his hands as if it was a simple ball. In the glow of the mid-morning sun, the mask he wore appeared much less menacing than in the Subterranean Forest. After gallivanting about for a few seconds, he suddenly came to a halt, his back turned towards Sonic.

"Huh?"

Sonic twisted a dial next to the eyepiece, zooming in on the abruptly still imp. Zooming in as close as he could, he watched the imp, wary of any sudden movements. As he gazed upon the enigmatic imp, he abruptly did an about-face, giving the hedgehog-turned-imp an eyeful of the mask that sent chills down his spine. The pinprick pupils of its "eyes" gazed into his pupiless eyes, emanating an orange glow that managed to stand out even when the imp is directly in a sunbeam. Just as he started to look away from the manic eyes, a voice abruptly rang out from around him:

_**Hello... SONIC THE HEDGEHOG...**_

"_Whoa!_" Sonic gasped, leaping back off the podium with such force that he fell back into the wall. He clutched his chest, breathing in short, rapid gasps. Just what was that voice, and where did it came from? How did it know his name?

"Sonic!" Tatl yelled, dashing over to the fallen deku scrub. "Are you okay? _What happened?_"

"I... I heard a voice," Sonic replied, getting to his feet. "It sounded kinda like the Skull Kid, but... did you hear it?"

Tatl shook her head. "I didn't hear any voices! You sure you're not hearing things?"

Sonic grimaced. "Well, whatever that voice came from, _it_ knew my name..."

Tatl backed up from him, a worried look on her face. "Okay, you're _seriously_ starting to creep me out, Dek. Are you_ sure_ that you-?"

Suddenly, a loud explosion rocked the observatory. The walls shook violently from the abrupt, cacophonic bang; with how the dome was designed, the noise gave a loud echo, amplifying it tremendously. Tatl shrieked, immediately ducking for cover. Shikashi was knocked clean off his feet from the massive shockwaves. Sonic curled up, trying to hold his ground the best his diminutive body could handle. Thoughts raced through his mind. Just what made that explosion? Did that voice he heard had something to do with it? The more he thought about it, the sicker he felt. Was the Skull Kid, not content with merely turning him into something significantly weaker, now actively out to_ kill_ him?

After a few seconds, the explosion finally subsided. Looking up from his knees, he breathed a sigh of relief. Despite the quakes that rocked the place, the observatory held firm, with not a single crack in sight. Looking around, he saw Tatl and Shikashi lifting themselves back up to the observation platform. Aside from a couple bumps and bruises, they, too, didn't appear to be worse for wear.

"Just what the heck was _that_ all about?" Tatl yelled, eying the walls.

"Indeed," Shikashi replied weakly, getting to his feet. "Did that troublemaker have something to do with this?"

"Tatl," Sonic said, dashing for the door, "go help Shikashi. I'll check outside!"

With a nod of confirmation from her, he leaped up and twisted the doorknob. Now free, he kicked it wide open and leaped out into the yard. He looked around, wary that whatever made the explosion could still be around to finish the job. The yard of the observatory was guarded by a steel gate, stretching all around the building. Its bars were so massive and spaced so closely to each other that he could barely see past them. As he looked around, he heard a sizzling sound to his left. Peering leftwards, he squinted.

"What the huh?"

Smoking in the middle of a small crater just a couple feet from the entrance was a large stone. Crystalline in appearance, it was shaped like a oversized tear. It emanated a bright cyan light, giving the crater it was in a bluish tint. As he walked up to the crater, a sense of nostalgia washed over him. What was the strange stone, and why did it look so familiar to him?

Reaching into the crater, he picked up the tear-shaped stone. Despite the puffs of smoke drifting off from it, it was cool to the touch. As he gaze upon its luminescent visage, the thought struck him.

_It looks like a Chaos Emerald..._

Carrying it in his hands, he walked back into the observatory. Tatl was tending to Shikashi, wrapping his arm up in a bandage. It appeared that the old man had more injuries that he thought.

Tatl looked over to Sonic and said, "Hey, what'd you got there, Dek?"

Sonic shrugged. "I found this in a crater just in front of the door. I think _this_ made that explosion!"

Shikashi hummed. "Lad, can I see that stone?"

Sonic nodded, and walked over to Tatl and Shikashi, holding out the stone. Looking down at the rock, Shikashi nodded.

"Ah, this is just a Moon's Tear," he said.

"A what?" Sonic asked, eyebrow raised.

Lifting the cyan stone from Sonic's hands, he replied, "This is one of the lunar rocks that have been blazing from the surface of the moon lately. They fall from what looks to be the moon's eye, so I call them Moon's Tears. They are rare stones, valued by many in town."

"Yeah, Dek," Tatl said, nodding in agreement. "Lady Vee has one, too."

"I see..." Sonic muttered, before snapping his fingers. "Hey, now that you've reminded me, I have to ask you something about the moon."

"And what's that, lad?" Shikashi asked.

"Well, I'm new in town, but, uh, haven't you noticed that the moon is rather..._big_ in the sky?"

Shikashi's face abruptly turned grim. "Aye, lad, I have. To me, it seems as if the moon is being pulled in by something and is gradually drawing closer."

Sonic couldn't decide whether to breath a sigh of relief or to be scared out of his wits. On the one hand, it's comforting to know that at least other person was aware of the moon's close proximity to the planet. On the other hand, there's the possibility that the moon might actually be _falling_ onto the planet.

Tatl scoffed. "Sorry, Professor, but you _honestly_ expect me to believe that the freakin' _moon_ is gonna fall? Oh, _puh-leaze_! The moon's all the way out in _space, _for goodness sakes!"

Shikashi sighed. "Aye, I, too, hope that I'm just thinking too hard over this. Unfortunately, the research I've conducted over the past two months is showing that it _might_ not be the case." Walking over to the telescope, he continued, "My calculations suggests that, at the rate it's moving, the moon will most likely impact Termina in just under _sixty-four_ hours..."

This sent chills down Sonic's spine. Looking up to the ceiling, he grimaced. Now he _had_ to hurry up and get his Mystic Melody back from that imp! Looking over at Tatl, even she appeared to be a bit shaken by the news.

"Anyway," Shikashi said, walking back over to the deku and fairy. "since that imp made off with my Moon's Tear, would it be alright if I have this one?"

"Oh, sure, sir," Sonic said with a nod. "I didn't really want it, anyway."

"Ah, thank you, lad." Shikashi stroked his chin, saying, "Though, there's still something that bugs me: just _how did _that troublemaker manage to get on top of the clock tower? The entrance to the clock tower only open once a year."

"Well, it's not like he can fly, or anything," Tatl added, "he's no fairy, after all."

"Quite..."

"Well, anyway, we gotta go, Professor." Looking over at Sonic, she said, "Alright, Dek, so we know where the Skull Kid is. Let's go search around the Clock Tower. Maybe we'll learn something!"

"Yeah," Sonic said, and he walked over to the stairs.

"Alright, Professor," Tatl said, waving to the elderly man, "I'll see ya later!"

"Okay," Shikashi replied, waving back. "Good luck with your search, and be wary of those skulltulas!"

* * *

_Author's Note__: _And with that, Chapter Eight is done!

Oy, I'm sorry for the slight delay; man, I'm just having the worst of luck lately! See, just a couple days after I uploaded Chapter 7, my laptop's hard drive up and died on me! Man, if it wasn't for my saving the story files on a flash drive, I would've _really_ been screwed! I intended to upload this chapter last Friday, but it took me until just yesterday to purchase a new hard drive. Everything's all settled now; let's just hope that _this_ one isn't defective!

Anyway, how is the story so far? Did you find this chapter enjoyable? Boring? If you have any questions or problems with this story, post your concerns as a review or send me a private message. Any constructive feedback is, and will always be, much appreciated.


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